> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bodiesburied.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # §2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a3-4-abusive-sexual-contact-or-attempt-to-commit-fy2016/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:29:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:29:00.000Z - Description: In fiscal year 2016, 34 people were sentenced in federal court with §2A3.4 as the primary guideline. 33 (97%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years). 31 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. - Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart - Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal [Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [§2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive S](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a3-4-abusive-sexual-contact-or-attempt-to-commit/) › §2A3.4: FY2016 **In brief:** In fiscal year 2016, 34 people were sentenced in federal court with §2A3.4 as the primary guideline. 33 (97%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years). 31 people (91%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. Updated November 4, 2026 · Sources: U.S. Sentencing Commission and Federal Judicial Center, fiscal years 2016–2025 This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 34 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016\. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. It is part of the [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) series, which builds on [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/). How the numbers were built: [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/). ## Prison Terms in Fiscal Year 2016 The Guidelines Manual titles §2A3.4 "Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact." The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 34 people in fiscal year 2016 whose primary guideline was this one. 33 (97%) were sentenced to prison, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 30 months (2.5 years). A quarter of those sent to prison received 45 months or more, and a quarter received 24 months or less. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 33 people with that information recorded. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 34 | 30 months | 91% | | 2017 | 38 | 27 months | 97% | | 2018 | 41 | 24 months | 98% | | 2019 | 44 | 18 months | 93% | | 2020 | 25 | 40.5 months | 88% | | 2021 | 26 | 36 months | 81% | | 2022 | 48 | 21 months | 92% | | 2023 | 46 | 24 months | 91% | | 2024 | 39 | 24 months | 82% | | 2025 | 37 | 36 months | 89% | ## Supervised Release After Prison 33 people (97%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 60 months, and 2 people (6%) received supervised release for life. Supervised release is a period of supervision after a prison term ends. The figures here are the terms ordered, as recorded by the Commission for §2A3.4. ## Guilty Pleas and Trial Convictions 31 of the 34 people (91%) pleaded guilty. 3 were convicted after a trial. Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 91% of the people sentenced under this guideline pleaded guilty, and for all guidelines in fiscal year 2016 the figure was 97%. The median prison term was 33 months after a guilty plea and 27 months after a trial. The trial figure is based on 2 people sent to prison, so it is not a reliable comparison. 94% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 6% were straight pleas. ## Position Against the Guideline Range 18 people (53%) were within the guideline range. 6 (18%) were above it, 6 (18%) were below it without a government request, and 4 (12%) were below it at the government's request. The within-range share for this guideline across all years was 50%. For every guideline in fiscal year 2016 it was 49%. Fiscal year 2017 had 45% within the range for this guideline. ## Criminal History, Fines, and Restitution 59% of the group were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 0% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field. No fine was ordered for any of the 34 people. Restitution was ordered for 6 (18%). ## Wider Numbers and the Article 120 Pairing Over fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 378 people were sentenced under §2A3.4\. 93% went to prison, and the median prison term was 24 months. All guidelines combined in fiscal year 2016 covered 67,742 people, with a median prison term of 24 months. The Commission files these 34 cases under the offense type Sexual Abuse. The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 120 of the UCMJ, and the comparison posts cover that pairing. This post reports the federal numbers only. ## Limits Fiscal year 2016 ran from October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2016\. The group is small, so one year does not show a trend. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the Commission's data, and prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. Fiscal year 2017 had 38 people under this guideline and a median prison term of 27 months. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2016 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.4 (34), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count. Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30\. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records. ### What to Keep in Mind **No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct.** Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987\. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served. **Federal supervised release.** Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial. **Who decides the sentence, and under what rules.** Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart. **Time periods.** Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually. **How life sentences and "time served" are counted.** In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less. ## Related Analysis - [Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/military-sentencing-guidelines-federal-system/) (the background article) - [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) (all federal posts) - [How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-data-methodology/) (sources and method) - [§2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a3-4-abusive-sexual-contact-or-attempt-to-commit/) (overview) - [§2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-guideline-2a3-4-abusive-sexual-contact-or-attempt-to-commit-fy2017/) (previous or next fiscal year) - [How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-sentences-outside-guideline-range/) - [Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-mandatory-minimum-sentences/) - [Fewer or More? Sexual Assault Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120-trend-2021-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Article 120 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120-sent-2021-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Fighting an Army Sexual Assault Charge: How Contested Cases Ended](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120-acq-2021-2025/) (court-martial data) - [When Army Accused Plead Guilty to Sexual Assault](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/army-article-120-plea-2021-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Is Air Force Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120-trend-2016-2025/) (court-martial data) - [How Much Confinement for an Article 120 Conviction in the Air Force?](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120-sent-2016-2025/) (court-martial data) - [When Air Force Accused Plead Guilty to Sexual Assault](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/air-force-article-120-plea-2016-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Is Navy-Marine Corps Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-120-trend-2017-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Article 120 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2017–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-120-sent-2017-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 120 Cases: What Happened at Trial](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-120-acq-2017-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Sexual Assault Cases: How Often, and What Came Next](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/navy-marine-corps-article-120-plea-2017-2025/) (court-martial data) - [Article 120 (Rape and Sexual Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/article-120-courts-martial/) (court-martial data) - [Article 120 UCMJ Explained by a Former Special Victim Prosecutor](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/ucmj/article-120-sexual-assault/?ref=bodiesburied.com) (law firm reference page) - [U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles](https://www.ussc.gov/research/datafiles/commission-datafiles?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) - [Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants)](https://www.fjc.gov/research/idb?ref=bodiesburied.com) (source) **About the author.** Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts *Where All The Bodies Are Buried* and runs the [Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart](https://www.ucmj-defender.com/?ref=bodiesburied.com). This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.