Fewer or More? Intimate Image Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025

Trends › By Offense › Article 117a › Navy-Marine Corps

Based on 22 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

A Charge That Appears Only From 2021 On

The records show no cases in any year from 2017 through 2020. There were 3 cases in 2021, 6 in 2022, 5 in 2023, 5 in 2024, and 3 in 2025. The earliest case in the data is from January 2021 and the latest is from September 2025.

Across those years, the 22 cases made up 1% of the 3,740 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in the records. Article 117a is a small part of all cases. A few cases more or fewer can change the yearly count noticeably.

The Charge as a Share of All Convictions

Counts alone can mislead when the total number of cases goes up or down. The records therefore also track Article 117a as a share of all convictions with offenses listed. In 2017–2019, it was part of none of the 1,243 convictions. In 2023–2025, it was part of 12 of 940 convictions (1%).

The highest yearly share was 2%, in 2022 and 2023. By that measure, the offense was a rare charge in the Navy and Marine Corps throughout the period.

Fewer Punitive Discharges Than the Service Overall

For an enlisted member, a punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. It is one of the most lasting parts of a court-martial sentence. Here, 8 of 20 convicted enlisted members received one. All 8 were bad-conduct discharges, and none was dishonorable.

That 40% rate was lower than the 62% across the Navy and Marine Corps. A sentence with no punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.

How Long Was Confinement?

Of the 22 cases, 21 ended in a conviction on at least one charge, and 14 of those sentences included confinement (67%). The median confinement was 5 months, close to the 6 months median across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 10 months or more.

Long terms were less common than in the service overall. Only 2 of 21 convictions (10%) included more than one year, compared with 25% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases. No sentence here was 5 years or more. Sentences with no confinement made up 33% of convictions, higher than the 18% for the service.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case, not only Article 117a.

How Often Were Cases Contested?

Most of the accused pleaded guilty: 15 guilty pleas and 7 contested cases. A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. A guilty plea usually means the case ends without a trial on the merits. The contested share of 32% was the same as the 32% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.

Who Was Charged, and at What Court Level?

Of the accused, 15 were junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) and 5 were NCOs (E-5 to E-9). No officers or warrant officers were charged. The accused here were more junior than in the Navy and Marine Corps as a whole, where 63% of the accused were junior enlisted.

Only 4 of 22 cases (18%) were general courts-martial. A general court-martial can impose long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. The rest were special courts-martial, where confinement is capped at one year and a dishonorable discharge is not available.

Other Charges in the Same Case

Article 117a was the only charge in 7 of 22 cases. Most cases included other offenses: Article 92 (orders violation) and Article 134 (the general article) in 4 cases each, and Article 131b (obstruction), Article 128b (domestic violence), and Article 120c (indecent recording and exposure) in 2 cases each. Sentences cover the whole case, so the outcomes above include these other charges.

Where the Cases Were Tried

San Diego, California, had the most cases, with 8. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Camp Pendleton, California, and Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, had 2 each, and MCAS Miramar, California, had 1. Those five installations account for 68% of the 22 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every type, so a higher count does not by itself show a local problem with this offense.

Rule Changes and the Limits of the Data

Article 117a is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute covered offenses. New sentencing parameters apply when every guilty finding involves conduct after December 27, 2023. Both rules depend on the offense date, so trials from 2024 on include both old-rule and new-rule cases.

The records list trial dates only, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or the plea terms. They do not include matters resolved through nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, so plea counts use only the records that list one.

Dates and sources for the law changes mentioned here: UCMJ change timeline.

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.