§2G2.6 Child Exploitation Enterprises: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025
Every person sentenced under §2G2.6, child exploitation enterprises, received prison: 62 of 62 in fiscal years 2016 to 2024. The median prison term was 360 months (30 years), and 7 received a life sentence.
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In brief: Every person sentenced under §2G2.6, child exploitation enterprises, received prison: 62 of 62 in fiscal years 2016 to 2024. The median prison term was 360 months (30 years), and 7 received a life sentence.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 62 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 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 Guideline With Uniformly Long Terms
Guideline §2G2.6 is titled "Child Exploitation Enterprises." The Sentencing Commission counted 62 people with it as the primary guideline in fiscal years 2016 to 2024, listed under the offense type Sexual Abuse. The data for this guideline ends in 2024, not 2025.
All 62 (100%) were sent to prison. None (0%) received probation only.
Length of Prison Terms
The median prison term was 360 months, or 30 years. A quarter received 438 months or more, and a quarter received 240 months or less. A life sentence was given to 7 people.
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to all 62 (100%).
The quarter figures show a wide spread. The lowest quarter of prison terms ended at 240 months, and the highest quarter began at 438 months. Prison terms are the ones imposed, not time served.
Pleas and Trials
Guilty pleas numbered 56 of 62 (90%), and 6 people were convicted after a trial. Among guilty pleas, 95% had a written plea agreement and 5% were straight pleas.
The median prison term was 360 months after a guilty plea and 415 months after a trial, based on 6 people.
Even With Minimums, Most Sentences Were Below the Range
Even though a mandatory minimum applied to every case, only 10 sentences (16%) were within the guideline range. In 35 cases (56%), the sentence was below the range at the government's request, and in 15 (24%), below it without a request. In 2 cases (3%), the sentence was above the range.
The records show these counts. They do not show what moved each sentence.
The sheet counts the range position for all 62 people. Sentences within or above the range were less common than sentences below it.
Supervised Release for Life
Supervised release followed prison for all 62 people (100%). The median term was 60 months, and 25 people (40%) received supervised release for life.
Restitution was ordered for 49 (79%), and a fine for 1 (2%). In criminal history, 92% were in the lowest category I and 2% were in the highest (VI).
Changes by Period
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 40 people and a median prison term of 370.5 months. Fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 22 people and a median of 252 months.
The yearly table has as few as 1 person in 2022 and as many as 18 in 2019, and medians from 144 months in 2023 to 470 months in 2022 and 2024. The 2022 figure rests on 1 person. With counts this small, the records cannot support a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 356 months | 3 of 4 |
| 2017 | 9 | 240 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2018 | 9 | 408 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2019 | 18 | 370.5 months | 100% |
| 2020 | 5 | 264 months | 4 of 5 |
| 2021 | 2 | 282 months | 2 of 2 |
| 2022 | 1 | 470 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 11 | 144 months | 91% |
| 2024 | 3 | 470 months | 2 of 3 |
What the Data Cannot Show
Only convicted and sentenced people appear. The approved crosswalk has no close court-martial counterpart for this guideline, and court-martial records have no criminal history field.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2G2.6 (62), from the U.S. Sentencing Commission's 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)
- §2G1.3 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2G1.1 Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with an Individual Other than a Minor: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- §2G3.1 Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (same guideline chapter part)
- 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.