What Happens to Navy-Marine Corps Officers Facing Sexual Assault Charges?

Trends › By Offense › Article 120 › Officers

Based on 21 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Full Acquittals in 11 of 17 Contested Cases

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. A full acquittal means a finding of not guilty on every charge. In this group, 11 of the 17 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, a rate of 65%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 120 cases, the rate was 54%.

None of the contested cases ended in a partial acquittal, where the accused is found not guilty of one charge or specification and guilty of another.

Few Guilty Pleas

The plea appears in 19 of the 21 records. Of those, 2 were guilty pleas and 17 were contested. The contested share was 89%, higher than the 67% across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 120 cases. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and these counts use only the records that list it.

Confinement After a Conviction

The 21 cases produced 10 convictions, and confinement was part of 90% of them. The median confinement was 3.8 years, longer than the 2.2 years across all Navy and Marine Corps Article 120 cases. A quarter of the confinement sentences were 16 years or longer.

These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each one covers every charge in the case.

Assault Charged in Most Cases

In 20 of the 21 cases, at least one other article was charged. Article 128 (assault) appeared in 16 cases and Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 9. Article 133 (conduct unbecoming) and Article 80 (attempt) each appeared in 5, and Article 134 (general article) in 3.

Trial Years and Locations

Every accused in this group was an officer or warrant officer. The cases were tried from January 2017 through May 2023: 5 in 2017, 4 in 2018, 2 in 2019, 3 in 2020, 2 in 2021, 2 in 2022, and 3 in 2023. The records hold none from 2024 or 2025.

Norfolk, Virginia had 5 cases. Bremerton, Washington, Jacksonville, Florida, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and San Diego, California had 2 each. Together these installations account for 62% of the 21 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

Rules That Applied

Article 120 was rewritten in 2012 and amended again for offenses on or after January 1, 2019. Each case is charged under the version in force when the offense happened. The Military Justice Act of 2016 also took effect on January 1, 2019. Article 120 is a covered offense, so since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel decide whether to prosecute it. No case in this group was tried after that date.

The records show charges, pleas, findings, and sentences. They do not show the evidence, the plea terms, or conduct handled outside a court-martial.

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.