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# Federal Obscenity and Other Sex Offense Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025
- URL: https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-obscenity-other-sex-offenses-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/
- Published: 2026-11-04T11:05:48.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-04T11:05:48.000Z
- Description: 27 of the 28 people in the Southern District of Indiana whose offense type was obscenity or other sex offenses were sentenced under the guideline for failure to register as a sex offender. All 28 received a prison term, with a median of 21 months. The records cover fiscal years 2016 to 2024.
- 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 Southern District of Indiana, FY201](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-indiana/) › Obscenity and Other Sex Offense: Southern District of Indiana

**In brief:** 27 of the 28 people in the Southern District of Indiana whose offense type was obscenity or other sex offenses were sentenced under the guideline for failure to register as a sex offender. All 28 received a prison term, with a median of 21 months. The records cover fiscal years 2016 to 2024.

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 28 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 U.S. Sentencing Commission's offense type "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" is broader than its name suggests. In this district, 27 of the 28 people had §2A3.5 (Failure to Register as a Sex Offender) as the primary guideline. The remaining person was sentenced under §2G3.1 (Importing, Mailing, or Transporting Obscene Matter).

Because nearly all cases share one guideline, the numbers below describe mostly one kind of offense. They do not describe federal sex offenses in general.

## Prison Terms

All 28 people (100%) received a prison term, and none received probation only. The median prison term was 21 months. A quarter received 30 months or more, and a quarter received 15 months or less.

For all 94 federal districts, 95% of people in this offense type were sent to prison, and the median was 18 months. For all offenses in the Southern District of Indiana, the median was 70 months. No mandatory minimum prison term applied to any of the 28 people (0%).

| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
| ----------- | ---------------- | ------------- | -------------- |
| 2016        | 6                | 18 months     | 6 of 6         |
| 2017        | 3                | 18 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2018        | 3                | 30 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2019        | 4                | 12 months     | 4 of 4         |
| 2020        | 3                | 21 months     | 3 of 3         |
| 2021        | 1                | 15 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2022        | 5                | 24 months     | 4 of 5         |
| 2023        | 1                | 30 months     | 1 of 1         |
| 2024        | 2                | 22 months     | 2 of 2         |

## Guideline Range Positions

64% of sentences (18 people) were within the advisory guideline range. 29% (8 people) were below the range without a government request, and 4% (1 person) were below it at the government's request. 4% (1 person) were above the range.

For all 94 districts, 54% of sentences in this offense type were within the range. For all offenses in this district, it was 43%.

## Pleas and the Single Trial

27 of 28 people (96%) pleaded guilty, and 1 person was convicted after a trial. For all 94 districts, 99% pleaded guilty. The median prison term was 21 months after a guilty plea. For the single person convicted at trial it was 41 months. One case cannot show how plea and trial sentences compare.

Among those who pleaded guilty, 96% had a written plea agreement and 4% were straight pleas with no agreement.

## Supervised Release

All 28 people (100%) were ordered to serve supervised release after prison. The median term was 60 months. A fine was ordered for 6 people (21%). Restitution was ordered for 0.

In criminal history, 7% were in the lowest category, category I, and 18% were in the highest, category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.

## Counts Over Time

16 people were sentenced in fiscal years 2016 to 2019 and 12 in fiscal years 2020 to 2025\. Yearly counts range from 1 to 6 people, and yearly medians range from 12 to 30 months. These counts are too small to show a trend.

These cases were less than 1% of the 4,205 people sentenced in this district in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.

## What the Records Cannot Show

The data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it. It does not describe the facts of any case, including the earlier offense behind a registration requirement.

### How We Counted

Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Southern District of Indiana (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Indiana South") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Obscenity/Other Sex Offenses" (28). 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 Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-district-southern-district-of-indiana/) (overview)
- [Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-drug-trafficking-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Firearms Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-firearms-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-fraud-theft-embezzlement-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (same district, other offense type)
- [Federal Robbery Sentences in the Southern District of Indiana, FY2016–2025](https://www.bodiesburied.com/trends/federal-robbery-sentences-southern-district-of-indiana/) (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.