§2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
Of the 38 people sentenced under §2A3.4 in fiscal year 2017, 36 (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 60 months. 7 people (18%) received supervised release for life. The median prison term was 27 months (2.2 years).
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In brief: Of the 38 people sentenced under §2A3.4 in fiscal year 2017, 36 (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 60 months. 7 people (18%) received supervised release for life. The median prison term was 27 months (2.2 years).
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 38 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. 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 series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Supervised Release, Including Life Terms
The U.S. Sentencing Commission recorded 38 people in fiscal year 2017 whose primary guideline was §2A3.4, titled "Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact" in the Guidelines Manual. 36 (95%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison.
The median supervised release term was 60 months. 7 people (18%) were ordered to serve supervised release for life.
How Long the Prison Terms Were
36 people (95%) were sentenced to prison, and 1 (3%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. The median prison term was 27 months (2.2 years).
A quarter of those sent to prison received 43.5 months or more, and a quarter received 15.8 months or less. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 38 people with that information recorded. Fiscal year 2016 had a median of 30 months, and fiscal year 2018 had a median of 24 months.
| 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% |
One Trial Conviction
37 of the 38 people (97%) pleaded guilty, and 1 was convicted after a trial. The median prison term was 26 months after a guilty plea. The person convicted at trial received 45 months, and one sentence cannot show a pattern.
95% of the guilty pleas had a written plea agreement, and 5% were straight pleas.
Sentences and the Guideline Range
17 people (45%) were within the range. 10 (26%) were below it without a government request, and 7 (18%) were below it at the government's request. 4 (11%) were above it.
The within-range share was 53% in fiscal year 2016 and 44% in fiscal year 2018. It was 50% for this guideline across all years and 49% for every guideline in fiscal year 2017.
Restitution, Fines, and Criminal History
Restitution was ordered for 4 people (11%), and a fine for 1 (3%). 63% were in criminal history category I, the lowest, and 5% were in category VI, the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Context and the Court-Martial Pairing
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 378 people were sentenced under this guideline. 93% went to prison, the median prison term was 24 months, and 91% pleaded guilty. For all guidelines in fiscal year 2017, 66,873 people were sentenced, with a median prison term of 24 months and 97% guilty pleas.
The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 120 of the UCMJ. This post gives federal numbers only.
What Is Not Shown
Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. The Commission files the 38 cases under the offense type Sexual Abuse and counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served. The records do not describe individual cases.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.4 (38), 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- Fewer or More? Sexual Assault Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 120 Sentences in the Army: Confinement and Discharges, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Fighting an Army Sexual Assault Charge: How Contested Cases Ended (court-martial data)
- When Army Accused Plead Guilty to Sexual Assault (court-martial data)
- Is Air Force Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- How Much Confinement for an Article 120 Conviction in the Air Force? (court-martial data)
- When Air Force Accused Plead Guilty to Sexual Assault (court-martial data)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- Article 120 Sentences in the Navy-Marine Corps: Confinement and Discharges, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 120 Cases: What Happened at Trial (court-martial data)
- Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Sexual Assault Cases: How Often, and What Came Next (court-martial data)
- Article 120 (Rape and Sexual Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 120 UCMJ Explained by a Former Special Victim Prosecutor (law firm reference page)
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (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. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.