Is Navy-Marine Corps Sexual Assault Prosecution Rising or Falling? Article 120, 2017–2025

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

Based on 480 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

More Contested Cases and More Full Acquittals

Sexual assault cases were contested much more often than other cases. Of the 345 records that list a plea, 232 were contested and 113 were guilty pleas. That contested share of 67% compares with 32% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. A contested case is one with a not-guilty plea to at least one charge.

Of 232 contested cases that reached a verdict, 126 ended in a full acquittal (54%). That was much higher than the 31% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases. Another 23 (10%) ended in a partial acquittal, with not-guilty findings on some charges or specifications and guilty findings on others.

Records from before December 2020 often omit the plea, so these counts use only the records that include one.

Long Sentences After a Conviction

Of 332 convictions, 294 included confinement. The median confinement was 2.2 years, compared with 6 months across the Navy and Marine Corps. A quarter of sentences were 6 years or longer.

Confinement of more than one year was adjudged in 207 of 332 convictions (62%), compared with 25% for the service. Terms of 5 years or more made up 27% of convictions, compared with 7% overall. These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.

Nearly All Cases Were General Courts-Martial

A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial is capped at one year and cannot adjudge a dishonorable discharge. Of the 480 cases, 422 were general courts-martial (88%, compared with 43% across all Navy and Marine Corps cases).

At general courts-martial, 90% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 3 years. At the 58 special courts-martial, 82% of convictions included confinement, with a median of 6 months.

Discharges and Dismissals

Of 314 convicted enlisted members, 265 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (84%), compared with 62% across the Navy and Marine Corps. Of those, 195 were dishonorable, the most severe form. The convicted also included 10 officers or warrant officers, and 8 of them were sentenced to dismissal. A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation.

A Much Smaller Share of Convictions

There were 94 cases in 2017, 77 in 2018, 60 in 2019, 59 in 2020, and 78 in 2021. There were 32 in 2022, 33 in 2023, 29 in 2024, and 18 in 2025. Across these years, the 480 cases are 13% of the 3,740 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial.

The highest number of convictions including Article 120 was 68 in 2017, a 16% share of convictions with offenses listed. In 2025, there were 9, a 3% share. In 2017–2019, the offense was part of 156 of 1,243 convictions (13%). In 2023–2025, it was part of 50 of 940 (5%). The records cannot show the reason for the decrease.

Most Cases Also Charged Assault

Only 72 of the 480 cases charged Article 120 alone. Article 128 (assault) was also charged in 324 cases. Article 120b (child sexual abuse) appeared in 98, Article 80 (attempt) in 81, Article 134 (the general article) in 67, and Article 92 (orders violation) in 47.

Rank and Installation

Among the accused with rank recorded, 256 were junior enlisted, 168 were NCOs, and 21 were officers. The accused here were more senior than in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps.

Norfolk, Virginia, had the most cases, 62. San Diego, California, had 47; Okinawa, Japan, 45; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, 44; and Camp Pendleton, California, 40. Together they account for 50% of the 480 cases. The largest installations try the most cases of every kind, so a high total is not by itself a sign of a local problem.

Law Changes During These Years

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, effective January 1, 2019, set fixed panel sizes and introduced written plea agreements. Article 120 is a covered offense, so since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel rather than commanders decide whether to prosecute it. For offenses after December 27, 2023, the military judge sets the sentence within new parameters.

All of these rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. The records also do not include the evidence, the plea terms, or allegations resolved 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.