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# Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-district-of-kansas/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:10:09.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:10:09.000Z
- Description: In the District of Kansas, 27 of the 30 people sentenced in the Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 had a failure-to-register guideline as the primary guideline. Of the 30, 28 (93%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 12 months, co
- Author: Jocelyn C. Stewart
- Tags: Understanding Trends, Federal

[Trends](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/) › [Federal Prosecution Analysis](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal/) › [Federal Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-kansas/) › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: District of Kansas

**In brief:** In the District of Kansas, 27 of the 30 people sentenced in the Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" offense type in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 had a failure-to-register guideline as the primary guideline. Of the 30, 28 (93%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 12 months, compared with 18 months across all 94 federal districts.

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 30 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](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/).

## Most Cases Fell Under One Guideline

The Commission's offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is a category assigned from the primary guideline used at sentencing. In this district, 27 of the 30 cases had §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender) as the primary guideline.

The other cases used §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter), with 2 cases, and §2X3.1 (Accessory After the Fact), with 1.

These cases were less than 1% of the 4,217 people sentenced in the District of Kansas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. Because one guideline accounts for nearly all of them, the numbers below mostly describe that kind of case.

## Prison Terms Compared With All Districts

Of the 30 people, 28 (93%) received a prison term, and 2 (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. For all districts, 3,595 people were sentenced in this offense type, and 95% were sent to prison.

Among those sent to prison in Kansas, the median prison term was 12 months. A quarter received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 7.2 months or less. The national median was 18 months, so the Kansas median was lower. The median for all offenses in the district was 46 months.

No one in the group (0 of 30) had a mandatory minimum prison term recorded.

## Guilty Pleas

All 30 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. The national rate of guilty pleas for the offense type was 99%, and for all offenses in the district it was 97%.

A written plea agreement was part of 80% of the guilty pleas, and 20% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Position Against the Guideline Range

A sentence within the range went to 16 people (53%). A sentence below the range at the government's request went to 11 (37%), and 3 (10%) were below the range without a government request. None was above the range (0%).

Nationally, 54% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in the District of Kansas, the figure was 42%.

## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History

Supervised release after prison was ordered for 29 people (97%), with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 2 (7%), and restitution for 0 (0%).

Criminal history was category I for 17% and category VI for 10%. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts by Year

There were 15 people sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 15 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. The table lists each year in the sheet, with 1 to 6 people per year. The table has no row for fiscal year 2022.

Yearly groups this small cannot show a trend in the median.

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 4                | 17.6 months   | 4 of 4         |
| 2017        | 6                | 12 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2018        | 1                | 0 months      | 1 of 1         |
| 2019        | 4                | 10 months     | 4 of 4         |
| 2020        | 3                | 11.6 months   | 3 of 3         |
| 2021        | 3                | 10 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2023        | 5                | 18 months     | 5 of 5         |
| 2024        | 3                | 21 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2025        | 1                | 12 months     | 1 of 1         |

## What the Records Cannot Show

People who were acquitted or whose cases were dismissed are not in this data, which covers sentenced people only. Terms shown are the sentences imposed.

Nothing here describes the facts of a case. The district includes Fort Leavenworth, Fort Riley, and McConnell AFB, but their courts-martial are heard in military courts, so none of these numbers cover them.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Kansas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Kansas") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (30). Offense types are the Commission's OFFGUIDE categories.

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)
- [Federal Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-kansas/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-kansas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-kansas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-kansas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Kansas, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-kansas/) (same district, other offense type)
- [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.