18 U.S.C. 2244, Abusive sexual contact: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 48 federal defendants charged mainly under 18 U.S.C. 2244 went to trial, and 14 of those trials (29%) ended in an acquittal. Trials were uncommon: 718 of the 816 defendants (88%) pleaded guilty. Overall, 752 (92%) were convicted, and the median prison term on this charg
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › 18 U.S.C. 2244
In brief: In fiscal years 2016 to 2025, 48 federal defendants charged mainly under 18 U.S.C. 2244 went to trial, and 14 of those trials (29%) ended in an acquittal. Trials were uncommon: 718 of the 816 defendants (88%) pleaded guilty. Overall, 752 (92%) were convicted, and the median prison term on this charge was 60 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 816 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.
Acquittals Among the 48 Trials
Section 2244 of Title 18 carries the heading "Abusive sexual contact" in the U.S. Code. The Federal Judicial Center counted 816 defendants whose most serious charge at the end of the case was under this section and whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025.
Only 48 of them (6%) went to trial. Of those 48 trials, 14 ended in an acquittal, or 29%.
Juries decided 43 of the trials and acquitted in 12 (28%). Judges decided the other 5, and 2 of those 5 ended in acquittal. A count of 5 bench trials is too small to support a rate.
Most Defendants Pleaded Guilty
Trials were the exception. Of the 816 defendants, 718 (88%) pleaded guilty and 50 (6%) had their cases dismissed.
The dismissal count includes more than charges the government abandoned. It also covers cases dismissed on the government's motion, for example when the defendant had pleaded guilty in another case.
Combining pleas and trial verdicts, 752 of the 816 defendants (92%) were convicted.
Counsel and Case Endings
The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of each case. Differences between these groups describe groups of cases, not the quality of lawyers. People who hire a lawyer and people who receive an appointed lawyer often face different charges and circumstances.
Federal public or community defenders handled 543 defendants (67%). In that group, 90% pleaded guilty, 5% were dismissed, and 4 of 24 trials ended in acquittal (17%).
CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, handled 161 (20%). Their group had an 89% plea rate, a 3% dismissal rate, and 4 acquittals in 12 trials (33%).
Retained private counsel handled 105 (13%), with an 80% plea rate and a 10% dismissal rate. Of their 11 trials, 5 ended in acquittal (45%). Each of these trial counts is small, and the rates can change sharply with a single verdict.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 543 | 90% | 5% | 24 | 4 (17%) |
| CJA panel attorney | 161 | 89% | 3% | 12 | 4 (33%) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 105 | 80% | 10% | 11 | 5 (45%) |
Level of Charge and Sentences
Almost every case was a felony: 811 (more than 99%). The records list 2 Class A misdemeanors and 3 petty offenses.
Of the 752 convicted defendants, 695 (92%) received a prison term on the section 2244 charge. For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 60 months (5 years). The records show 3 defendants who received life.
The Decade by Fiscal Year
Cases ended under this section each year ranged from 56 in fiscal year 2020 to 105 in fiscal year 2019. The guilty plea rate was 80% in 2024, the lowest of the decade, and 94% in 2018, the highest.
Trial counts stayed in single digits every year, from 1 to 8. Acquittals appear in most years, but each year has too few trials to treat any yearly rate as meaningful.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 78 | 86% | 10% | 3 | 2 (2 of 3) |
| 2017 | 85 | 87% | 6% | 6 | 3 (3 of 6) |
| 2018 | 80 | 94% | 3% | 3 | 0 (0 of 3) |
| 2019 | 105 | 90% | 6% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2020 | 56 | 93% | 5% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2021 | 72 | 88% | 6% | 5 | 2 (2 of 5) |
| 2022 | 93 | 86% | 5% | 8 | 2 (2 of 8) |
| 2023 | 90 | 92% | 3% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2024 | 91 | 80% | 11% | 8 | 2 (2 of 8) |
| 2025 | 66 | 85% | 6% | 6 | 1 (1 of 6) |
Connection to the Court-Martial Posts
The approved crosswalk places this statute in the pairing for sexual abuse of an adult, alongside Article 120 rape, sexual assault, and abusive sexual contact in the military. The comparison posts take up that pairing directly.
What Is Not in the Data
These counts show how cases ended and what sentence followed on this charge. They do not show the facts of any case, the strength of the evidence, or what was offered in plea talks. They also cannot say why any trial ended the way it did.
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. 2244, any subsection (816), 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)
- Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Cases vs. Article 120 Courts-Martial (comparison with courts-martial)
- 18 U.S.C. 2242, Sexual abuse: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 2243, Sexual abuse of a minor, a ward, or an individual in Federal custody: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 2250, Failure to register: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 18 U.S.C. 2251, Sexual exploitation of children: 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?
- Fewer or More? Sexual Assault Charges at Army Courts-Martial, 2021–2025 (court-martial data)
- Fighting an Army Sexual Assault Charge: How Contested Cases Ended (court-martial data)
- Is Air Force Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2016–2025 (court-martial data)
- Is Navy-Marine Corps Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2017–2025 (court-martial data)
- Not Guilty Pleas in Navy-Marine Corps Article 120 Cases: What Happened at Trial (court-martial data)
- Article 120 (Rape and Sexual Assault): Court-Martial Data and Trends (court-martial data)
- Article 120 UCMJ Explained by a Former Special Victim Prosecutor (law firm reference page)
- 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.