> ## 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 Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025 - URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/ - Published: 2026-11-04T10:36:08.000Z - Updated: 2026-11-04T10:36:08.000Z - Description: In the Eastern District of Missouri, 55 people were sentenced for the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The median prison term was 12.8 months among the 49 who were sent to prison, compared with 18 months for this offense type in a - 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 Eastern District of Missouri, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-missouri/) › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Eastern District of Missouri **In brief:** In the Eastern District of Missouri, 55 people were sentenced for the U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The median prison term was 12.8 months among the 49 who were sent to prison, compared with 18 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. Most of the cases involved failure to register as a sex offender. 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 55 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/). ## What Kinds of Cases Are in This Category? The Commission groups federal cases into offense types, and "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is one of those categories. It is not a single crime. The category is defined by the primary sentencing guideline that applied to each person. In this district, the most common primary guideline was §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender), with 48 people. The next was §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter), with 6 people. These cases made up less than 1% of the 9,425 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025\. The fiscal year runs from October 1 to September 30. ## Prison Terms Compared With All Districts Of the 55 people, 49 (89%) received a prison term, and 5 (9%) received probation only. Nationwide, 95% of people sentenced for this offense type were sent to prison. The median prison term here was 12.8 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 18 months or more, and a quarter received 7.4 months or less. The median for all 94 districts together was 18 months, which is higher than the median in this district. The median for all offenses in this district was 46 months. The median for this offense type is lower than that district-wide figure. Prison terms in the Commission data are the terms imposed, not the time actually served. ## Guilty Pleas and Plea Agreements A total of 54 of 55 people (98%) pleaded guilty, and 1 person was convicted after a trial. Nationwide, guilty pleas were 99% for this offense type, and 99% for all offenses in the district. Among the guilty pleas, 100% had a written plea agreement. None was a straight plea with no agreement. The median prison term after a guilty plea was 12.7 months. The one person convicted at trial and sent to prison had a prison term of 60 months. A single case cannot be used to compare trial and plea sentences. ## Where Sentences Fell Against the Guideline Range The guideline range is the sentencing range the Commission's guidelines calculate for each case. Judges may sentence within it or outside it. In this district, 27% of the sentences (15) were within the range. Another 24% (13) were below the range at the government's request, and 45% (25) were below the range without a government request. Above the range were 4% (2). Across all 94 districts, 54% of sentences for this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, the figure was 42%. Sentences within the range were therefore less common here than in either comparison group. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 55 people. ## Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History Supervised release after prison was ordered for 50 people (91%), and the median term was 60 months. A fine was ordered for 1 person (2%), and restitution was ordered for 1 person (2%). In criminal history, 13% of the people were in the lowest category, and 17% were in the highest category. Court-martial records have no criminal history field, so this detail has no military counterpart. ## Counts by Fiscal Year From fiscal years 2016 to 2019, 23 people were sentenced in this category. From fiscal years 2020 to 2025, 32 people were sentenced. Yearly counts are small. Fiscal year 2019 had 16 people, and several years had 5 or fewer, so the yearly medians in the table rest on very few cases. They should not be read as a trend. | Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty | | ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- | | 2016 | 3 | 30 months | 3 of 3 | | 2017 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 | | 2018 | 3 | 14 months | 3 of 3 | | 2019 | 16 | 7.2 months | 100% | | 2020 | 5 | 14.5 months | 5 of 5 | | 2021 | 3 | 15 months | 3 of 3 | | 2022 | 4 | 18 months | 4 of 4 | | 2023 | 7 | 12.5 months | 7 of 7 | | 2024 | 5 | 16.9 months | 4 of 5 | | 2025 | 8 | 17 months | 8 of 8 | ## What These Records Cannot Show The Commission data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it, so the numbers cannot show how many people were charged in total. The records also do not show the facts of any one case or the reasons for any sentence. ### How We Counted Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Missouri East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (55). 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 Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (overview) - [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (same district, other offense type) - [Federal Child Pornography Sentences in the Eastern District of Missouri, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-child-pornography-sentences-eastern-district-of-missouri/) (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.