18 U.S.C. 1470, Transfer of obscene material to minors: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
Nearly all federal cases under 18 U.S.C. 1470 ended in a guilty plea: 310 of 328 defendants (95%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 6 went to trial, and 2 of those ended in an acquittal. Of the 314 convicted, 291 (93%) received a prison term on this charge, with a median of 48 months.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › 18 U.S.C. 1470
In brief: Nearly all federal cases under 18 U.S.C. 1470 ended in a guilty plea: 310 of 328 defendants (95%) in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Only 6 went to trial, and 2 of those ended in an acquittal. Of the 314 convicted, 291 (93%) received a prison term on this charge, with a median of 48 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 328 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The series also draws on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced 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.
The Section Counted Here
Title 18, section 1470 of the U.S. Code is headed "Transfer of obscene material to minors." The Federal Judicial Center data counts 328 defendants whose most serious charge was under this section when the case ended.
The count follows the federal courts' Table D-4. It includes every case that ended, so it covers dismissals and acquittals, not only sentenced cases.
Pleas, Dismissals, and Trials
Guilty pleas ended 310 cases (95%). The charges were dismissed for 12 defendants (4%). Trials were held for 6 (2%).
In this data, a dismissal can be a charge dropped on the government's motion. For example, a charge may be dropped after the defendant pleaded guilty in another case.
By plea or verdict, 314 of the 328 defendants (96%) were convicted.
Few Trials, All Before Juries
All 6 trials were jury trials, and juries acquitted in 2 of 6. There were 0 bench trials.
A total of 6 trials over fiscal years 2016 to 2025 is too few to support an acquittal rate. The numbers are reported as counts for that reason.
How Long Were the Prison Terms?
Each of the 328 charges was a felony (100%). Of the 314 people convicted, 291 (93%) received a prison term on this charge.
Among terms of 1 month or more, the median was 48 months (4 years). That is the middle term in ranked order. It does not show the shortest or longest terms.
Counsel at the End of the Case
Federal public or community defenders represented 181 defendants (55%). Private (retained) counsel represented 103 (31%). CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 42 (13%).
Guilty pleas were 98% with retained counsel, 95% with federal defenders, and 88% with CJA panel attorneys. Dismissals were 7% in the CJA panel group, 3% with federal defenders, and less than 1% with retained counsel.
Trials were spread thinly: 3 in the federal defender group with 0 acquittals, 2 in the CJA panel group with 1 acquittal, and 1 with retained counsel, which ended in an acquittal.
These figures describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. People who hire counsel and people who are assigned counsel face different charges and circumstances.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 181 | 95% | 3% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| CJA panel attorney | 42 | 88% | 7% | 2 | 1 (1 of 2) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 103 | 98% | less than 1% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
Cases by Fiscal Year
Yearly counts ranged from 24 cases in fiscal year 2016 to 49 in fiscal year 2023. Guilty pleas made up 89% or more of cases in every year.
Each trial year had 1 or 2 trials, and none were held after fiscal year 2021. The yearly table shows the counts as recorded.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 24 | 96% | 4% | 0 | 0 |
| 2017 | 26 | 96% | 4% | 0 | 0 |
| 2018 | 28 | 89% | 4% | 2 | 1 (1 of 2) |
| 2019 | 29 | 93% | 3% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2020 | 25 | 92% | 0% | 2 | 0 (0 of 2) |
| 2021 | 45 | 93% | 4% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2022 | 35 | 97% | 3% | 0 | 0 |
| 2023 | 49 | 98% | 2% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 36 | 92% | 8% | 0 | 0 |
| 2025 | 31 | 97% | 3% | 0 | 0 |
What These Records Leave Out
The approved crosswalk lists no close court-martial counterpart for this section, so only federal numbers appear here. The records contain no case facts, no plea terms, and no reasons for a dismissal or a verdict.
How We Counted
Every federal defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end of the case (TTITLE1) was under 18 U.S.C. 1470, any subsection (328), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4. Type of counsel is TCOUNSEL; labels from the FJC criminal codebook. Section heading from the U.S. Code as published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (release point 119-136).
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
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
How "plea" and "trial" are counted. In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.
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.
Type of counsel describes groups of cases, not lawyers. The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of the case. Defendants who hire a lawyer differ from defendants who receive an appointed lawyer in their charges, criminal history, and circumstances, and some defendants change lawyers during a case. Differences in outcomes by type of counsel therefore cannot be credited to the type of lawyer.
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)
- 18 U.S.C. 1382, Entering military, naval, or Coast Guard property: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1425, Procurement of citizenship or naturalization unlawfully: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1503, Influencing or injuring officer or juror generally: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 1512, Tampering with a witness, victim, or an informant: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025
- Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?
- 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.