Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025
In the Northern District of Indiana, 15 people were sentenced in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" category in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 14 of them (93%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 15 months. For all 94 federal districts together, the median
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In brief: In the Northern District of Indiana, 15 people were sentenced in the U.S. Sentencing Commission's "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" category in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. 14 of them (93%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 15 months. For all 94 federal districts together, the median for this offense type was 18 months.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 15 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.
Most of These Cases Involved Failure to Register
The Commission sorts every federal case into an offense type based on the main guideline used at sentencing. "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is one of those types, and it is a broad category rather than a single crime.
In the Northern District of Indiana, 13 of the 15 cases used §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender) as the primary guideline. The other 2 used §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter).
Because one guideline accounts for nearly all of the cases, the district's numbers mostly describe failure-to-register sentences.
Prison Terms and Probation
Of the 15 people, 14 (93%) were sent to prison, and 1 (7%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement. Across all districts, 95% of people in this offense type were sent to prison.
The median prison term in the district was 15 months. A quarter of those sent to prison received 21 months or more, and a quarter received 12.3 months or less.
The national median for this offense type was 18 months, which is longer. The median for all offenses in the district was 51 months, so these cases carried much shorter terms than the district's cases as a whole.
The terms are the sentences imposed, not the time actually served.
Pleas and Plea Agreements
All 15 people (100%) pleaded guilty, and 0 were convicted after a trial. Nationally, 99% pleaded guilty in this offense type, and 96% did so across all offenses in the district.
Among the guilty pleas, 87% had a written plea agreement and 13% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 15 people with that information recorded.
How Sentences Compared With the Guideline Range
Sentences were within the guideline range for 11 people (73%). They were below the range without a government request for 4 people (27%).
No sentence was below the range at the government's request, and none was above the range. Nationally, 54% of sentences in this offense type were within the range, and the district's figure for all offenses was 47%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
All 15 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison, and the median term was 60 months. A fine was ordered for 0, and restitution was ordered for 0.
By criminal history, 7% were in the lowest category, category I, and 7% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
Counts by Year
These cases were less than 1% of the 3,085 people sentenced in the district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. From fiscal year 2016 to 2019 there were 11 people, and from 2020 to 2025 there were 4.
The yearly table shows no more than 4 people in any year, and no sentences in some years. At these counts, a single year's median reflects one or a few cases and should not be read as a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 4 | 18 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2017 | 3 | 12 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2018 | 1 | 15 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2019 | 3 | 15 months | 3 of 3 |
| 2020 | 1 | 21 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2022 | 1 | 13 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2023 | 1 | 12 months | 1 of 1 |
| 2025 | 1 | 30 months | 1 of 1 |
What the Records Cannot Show
The Commission counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in the data, so the records cannot show how many charges in this category ended another way.
The numbers also cannot show why one person received probation and another received prison. The sheet reports federal numbers on their own and does not compare them with any court-martial offense.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Northern District of Indiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Indiana North") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (15). 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 (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- Federal Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Robbery Sentences in the Northern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- 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.