> ## 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. # Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:59:34.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:59:34.000Z - Description: In the District of Massachusetts, 41 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under the Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" type, and all 41 pleaded guilty. Of these, 40 (98%) received a prison term, with a median of 20.2 months. The median across all 94 districts was 18 - 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 Massachusetts, FY2016–2](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-massachusetts/) › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: District of Massachusetts **In brief:** In the District of Massachusetts, 41 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under the Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" type, and all 41 pleaded guilty. Of these, 40 (98%) received a prison term, with a median of 20.2 months. The median across all 94 districts was 18 months. 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 41 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/). ## Mostly Failure to Register Cases The offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is a category set by the U.S. Sentencing Commission. It is not a single crime, and the cases are sorted by primary guideline. In this district, 37 of the 41 people were under §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender). The other 2 named in the sheet were under §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter). These cases were less than 1% of the 4,847 people sentenced in the district. ## Prison Terms Among the 40 people sent to prison, the median prison term was 20.2 months. A quarter received 24.2 months or more, and a quarter received 11.8 months or less. One person (2%) received probation only. In all 94 districts, 3,595 people were sentenced for this offense type, 95% were sent to prison, and the median was 18 months. For all offenses in this district, the median was 30 months. ## Every Person Pleaded Guilty All 41 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and none was convicted after a trial. In all districts, 99% pleaded guilty for this offense type. Among guilty pleas, 17% had a written plea agreement and 83% were straight pleas with no agreement. A straight plea means the person pleaded guilty without a written agreement with the government. ## Position Against the Guideline Range Of the 41 people with the information, 17 (41%) were sentenced within the guideline range. Only 3 (7%) were below the range at the government's request, while 19 (46%) were below it without a government request. Another 2 (5%) were above the range. In all districts for this offense type, 54% were within the range. In this district across all offenses, 29% were. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 39 people with that information recorded. ## Supervised Release and Criminal History After prison, 40 people (98%) were ordered to serve supervised release, with a median term of 60 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (2%), and restitution for 1 (2%). On criminal history, 10% were in the lowest category and 27% in the highest. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so that measure cannot be compared between federal and military records. ## Small Yearly Counts Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 26 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 15\. The table has no rows for fiscal years 2023\. A fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. Yearly counts range from 1 to 8 people. The median prison term was 9.5 months in 2018 and 30 months in 2022 and 2024\. Groups this small do not show a trend. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 5 | 24 months | 5 of 5 | | 2017 | 7 | 21 months | 7 of 7 | | 2018 | 6 | 9.5 months | 6 of 6 | | 2019 | 8 | 15 months | 8 of 8 | | 2020 | 6 | 21.7 months | 6 of 6 | | 2021 | 3 | 24 months | 3 of 3 | | 2022 | 3 | 30 months | 3 of 3 | | 2024 | 2 | 30 months | 2 of 2 | | 2025 | 1 | 14 months | 1 of 1 | ## What the Records Cannot Tell The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data. Prison terms are the terms imposed, not time served, and the records do not describe the conduct in any case. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the District of Massachusetts (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Massachusetts") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (41). 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 Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-district-of-massachusetts/) (overview) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-immigration-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the District of Massachusetts, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-district-of-massachusetts/) (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.