§2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2020
In fiscal year 2020, 25 people were sentenced in federal court under guideline §2A3.4, and 24 (96%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 40.5 months (3.4 years), which was higher than the 18 months in fiscal year 2019. The group is small, so the numbers move easily with a few cases.
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In brief: In fiscal year 2020, 25 people were sentenced in federal court under guideline §2A3.4, and 24 (96%) received a prison term. The median prison term was 40.5 months (3.4 years), which was higher than the 18 months in fiscal year 2019. The group is small, so the numbers move easily with a few cases.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 25 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020. 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.
A Small Group of 25 People
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 25 people sentenced in fiscal year 2020 whose primary guideline was §2A3.4, "Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact." The fiscal year ran from October 1, 2019 to September 30, 2020.
Counts of this size are small. A few cases can change a percentage or a median noticeably.
The Commission classed all 25 cases under the offense type Sexual Abuse. Only people who were convicted and sentenced are in the data.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
The median prison term was 40.5 months among the 24 people sent to prison. A quarter received 79.5 months or more, and a quarter received 29.2 months or less.
One person (4%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
These are terms imposed by the court, not time served.
Guilty Pleas Compared With Trials
A total of 22 of 25 people (88%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. Trials were a larger share of this group than in most other fiscal years shown in the table below.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 36 months. After a trial, it was 96 months, based on 3 people. With so few people, the gap between these medians is not a reliable measure of the difference between pleading and going to trial.
Among the guilty pleas, 91% had a written plea agreement and 9% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum applied to 1 of the 25 people (4%).
| 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% |
Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range
In 13 cases (52%), the sentence was within the guideline range. In 7 cases (28%), it was below the range at the government's request, and in 2 cases (8%), it was below the range without a government request. In 3 cases (12%), it was above the range.
In fiscal year 2019, 55% of sentences under this guideline were within the range. In fiscal year 2021, 42% were.
After Prison and Other Orders
Supervised release was ordered for 24 people (96%), with a median term of 60 months. Supervised release for life went to 4 people (16%).
A fine was ordered for 5 people (20%), and restitution for 5 (20%).
Criminal history category I, the lowest, applied to 64% of the group, and category VI, the highest, applied to 8%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Other Years and All Guidelines
Across fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 378 people were sentenced under §2A3.4. Overall, 93% went to prison, the median prison term was 24 months, and 91% pleaded guilty.
In fiscal year 2019, 44 people were sentenced under this guideline. In fiscal year 2021, 26 were, and the median prison term was 36 months.
For every guideline in fiscal year 2020, 64,565 people were sentenced. The median prison term was 18 months, 98% pleaded guilty, and 50% were sentenced within the range.
What Cannot Be Read From This Year
The records do not show why the median was higher in 2020 than in the years before it, and one year does not make a trend. The approved crosswalk pairs this guideline with Article 120 of the UCMJ, but the facts of each case are not in the data.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2020 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A3.4 (25), 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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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 2019 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A3.4 Abusive Sexual Contact or Attempt to Commit Abusive Sexual Contact: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2021 (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.