Sexual Assault at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2018: The Year in Numbers

Trends › By Offense › Article 120 › Navy-Marine Corps, 2018

Based on 77 cases · 2018 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Few Guilty Pleas Where a Plea Was Recorded

Only 39 of the 77 records show the plea. Of those, 7 accused pleaded guilty and 32 contested at least one charge with a not-guilty or mixed plea. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often leave the plea out, so the share uses fewer than all cases.

The contested share of 82% was much higher than the 28% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2018. In the cases with a recorded plea, most of the accused contested the charges.

16 of 32 Contested Cases Ended in a Full Acquittal

All 32 contested cases reached a verdict, and 16 ended in a full acquittal (not guilty of every charge). That 50% full-acquittal rate was higher than the 46% for the service as a whole that year.

None of these decided contested cases ended in a partial acquittal, where the accused is found not guilty of at least one charge or specification but guilty of another. Every contested case ended either in a full acquittal or in a conviction with no not-guilty findings.

Confinement Was Usually Measured in Years

Of 55 convictions on at least one charge, 47 included confinement (85%). The median confinement was 3.3 years, compared with 7 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2018. A quarter of the terms were 7 years or more.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial and before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. A sentence covers every charge in the case, so other charges are included in each figure.

Sentence Lengths

Confinement of more than a year was adjudged in 39 of the 55 convictions (71%), compared with 30% for the service. Of those, 21 convictions (38%) were between 1 and 5 years, and 18 (33%) were 5 years or more, compared with 9% for all cases.

Short sentences were less common than in other cases. Only 3 convictions (5%) included under 6 months, compared with 32% for the service. The share with no confinement, 15%, was the same as the service figure.

Most Convicted Enlisted Members Received a Punitive Discharge

A convicted enlisted member can receive a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge. These are punitive discharges. Here, 87% received one: 39 dishonorable discharges and 6 bad-conduct discharges. Across the Navy and Marine Corps in 2018, the share was 66%.

Officers receive a dismissal rather than a discharge. The records show 2 convicted officers or warrant officers, and both were sentenced to dismissal. A sentence with no punitive discharge can still be followed by administrative separation, which these records do not track.

General Courts-Martial and Rank

Of the 77 cases, 70 were general courts-martial (91%), compared with 45% across the service. A general court-martial has no one-year cap on confinement. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 47% of the accused, NCOs 47%, and officers 6%. Junior enlisted members were 61% of all Navy and Marine Corps accused in 2018. The accused here were more senior.

Other Charges in the Same Cases

In 67 of the 77 cases, at least one other article was charged. Article 128 (assault) was the most common other charge, in 63 cases. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) appeared in 22, Article 80 (attempt) in 17, Article 92 (orders violation) in 7, and Article 134 (general article) in 6.

Changes From 2017

The number of cases went from 94 in 2017 to 77 in 2018. The contested share went from 60% to 82%. Full acquittals in decided contested cases went from 20 of 32 to 16 of 32. Median confinement went from 4 years to 3.3 years, and the share of convictions with confinement went from 94% to 85%.

Punitive discharges for convicted enlisted members were about the same: 89% and then 87%. With groups this small, a few cases can change a percentage noticeably. These changes show direction, not precise change.

Installations, Law Changes, and Missing Information

Camp Pendleton, California, Okinawa, Japan, and Norfolk, Virginia, each tried 10 of these cases. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, tried 7 and San Diego, California, 5. Together they account for 55% of the cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

Every trial here took place before the Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. Each case was charged under the version of Article 120 in force on the offense date. The records do not give those offense dates, the evidence, or plea terms. They do not include nonjudicial punishment or administrative separations.

For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120 on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.

Compare: federal court. Sexual Abuse of an Adult: Federal Cases vs. Article 120 Courts-Martial

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.