Federal Sexual Abuse Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025
All 100 people sentenced for sexual abuse offenses in the Eastern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median was 240 months (20 years), compared with 180 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. A mandatory minimum applied to 92 of the 100 peop
· Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 7 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › Federal Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2 › Sexual Abuse: Eastern District of Texas
In brief: All 100 people sentenced for sexual abuse offenses in the Eastern District of Texas in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 received a prison term. The median was 240 months (20 years), compared with 180 months for this offense type in all 94 federal districts. A mandatory minimum applied to 92 of the 100 people.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 100 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.
Mandatory Minimums Applied to 92 People
A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 92 of the 100 people (92%). A mandatory minimum is a term set by statute that a judge generally must impose.
The records do not show which statute set the minimum in a given case.
Long Prison Terms
The median prison term was 240 months. A quarter received 360 months or more, and a quarter received 177 months or less. In addition, 4 people received a life sentence.
The median for all 94 districts was 180 months, which is lower than the median here. The median for all offenses in this district was 64.5 months, which is lower than the sexual abuse median.
No one received probation only. Nationwide, more than 99% of people sentenced for this offense type were sent to prison. The terms are as imposed, and time served may be shorter.
What the Category Includes
The Commission's "Sexual Abuse" type is assigned by the primary guideline. The most common here was §2G2.1 (Sexually Exploiting a Minor by Production of Sexually Explicit Visual or Printed Material), with 63 people. Next was §2G1.3 (Promoting a Commercial Sex Act or Prohibited Sexual Conduct with a Minor), with 34 people.
Under §2A3.1 (Criminal Sexual Abuse), 2 people were sentenced, and 1 under §2A3.2 (Criminal Sexual Abuse of a Minor Under the Age of Sixteen Years (Statutory Rape) or Attempt to Commit Such Acts).
This offense type was 1% of the 7,998 people sentenced in the district over the period.
Plea and Trial Counts
Of the 100 people, 90 (90%) pleaded guilty, and 10 were convicted after a trial. Nationwide, 90% of people sentenced for this offense type pleaded guilty. For all offenses in this district, the share was 98%.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 240 months, and after a trial it was 241 months, based on 10 people. These figures are about the same.
Among the guilty pleas, 98% had a written plea agreement, and 2% were straight pleas with no agreement.
The Guideline Range
Within the range were 62% of the sentences (62). Below the range at the government's request were 27% (27), and below the range without a government request were 5% (5). Above the range were 6% (6).
For all districts, 41% of sentences for this offense type were within the range, and the share for all offenses in this district was 64%.
Supervised Release, Fines, and Criminal History
All 100 people were ordered to serve supervised release. The median term was 120 months, and 18 people (18%) received supervised release for life.
A fine was ordered for 5 people (5%), and restitution for 20 (20%). On criminal history, 75% were in the lowest category and 4% were in the highest. Courts-martial keep no criminal history field.
Yearly Counts
Fiscal years 2016 to 2019 had 43 people, and fiscal years 2020 to 2025 had 57. A fiscal year begins October 1 and ends the next September.
Yearly counts ranged from 4 people in fiscal year 2019 to 15 in fiscal year 2017. Medians ranged from 151 months in fiscal year 2016 to 360 months in fiscal year 2021. With so few people per year, the records cannot show a trend.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 11 | 151 months | 91% |
| 2017 | 15 | 282 months | 100% |
| 2018 | 13 | 210 months | 77% |
| 2019 | 4 | 180 months | 4 of 4 |
| 2020 | 8 | 240 months | 7 of 8 |
| 2021 | 9 | 360 months | 7 of 9 |
| 2022 | 7 | 188 months | 6 of 7 |
| 2023 | 9 | 262 months | 8 of 9 |
| 2024 | 12 | 248.5 months | 100% |
| 2025 | 12 | 326.5 months | 92% |
What Is Not Covered
The records include only people who reached sentencing. Acquittals and dismissals are missing, and no facts of any single case appear.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in the Eastern District of Texas (U.S. Sentencing Commission district label "Texas East") in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 whose offense type was "Sexual Abuse" (100). 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.
Mandatory minimum sentences. Many federal statutes on drugs, images of child exploitation, child sex abuse, and firearms carry mandatory minimum prison terms. The UCMJ has mandatory minimums only for a few offenses (a dishonorable discharge or dismissal for rape and sexual assault, and life for premeditated murder). Federal sentences for these offenses are partly set by Congress, not by the judge.
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 Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- Federal Drug Trafficking Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Firearms Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Fraud, Theft, and Embezzlement Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, FY2016–2025 (same district, other offense type)
- Federal Immigration Offense Sentences in the Eastern District of Texas, 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.