How Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Cases Ended in 2020
Of 33 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charging Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 2020, 32 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. All 31 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (100%), compared with 62% across the service.
Understanding Trends in Military Practice · 6 min read
Trends › By Offense › Article 120b › Navy-Marine Corps, 2020
Short answer: Of 33 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial charging Article 120b (child sexual abuse) in 2020, 32 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. All 31 convicted enlisted members received a punitive discharge (100%), compared with 62% across the service. The median confinement was 3 years, compared with 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps cases.
Every Enlisted Conviction Included a Punitive Discharge
A punitive discharge is a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge imposed as part of a court-martial sentence. All 31 convicted enlisted members in this group received one, and 24 of those were dishonorable. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020, the share was 62%.
The records list 1 convicted officer or warrant officer, who was sentenced to dismissal, the officer counterpart to a punitive discharge.
A bad-conduct discharge can be adjudged at a special or general court-martial. A dishonorable discharge requires a general court-martial. A sentence without either does not rule out a later administrative separation, which these records do not track.
Most Cases Ended in a Conviction
Of the 33 cases, 32 ended in a conviction on at least one charge. Of the decided contested cases, 1 of 6 ended in a full acquittal. A contested case is one in which the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge, with either a not-guilty plea or a mixed plea.
A plea appears in only 13 of the 33 records: 7 guilty pleas and 6 contested cases. That is a contested share of 46%, compared with 30% for the service. Navy and Marine Corps records before December 2020 often omit the plea, and nearly all of these cases were tried before that date.
Confinement and Its Length
Of the 32 convictions, 29 included confinement (91%). The median confinement was 3 years, compared with 6 months for the service as a whole. A quarter of terms were 8 years or more.
These are adjudged sentences, set at trial before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. Each covers every charge in the case.
The median is the middle of the range. It is not a prediction for any one case. The quarter mark of 8 years shows how long the sentences in the upper part of the range were.
No Sentences Under 6 Months
No conviction in this group included a term under 6 months. Terms under 6 months made up 36% of all Navy and Marine Corps convictions in 2020. Here, 12 convictions (38%) were 5 years or more and 11 (34%) were between 1 and 5 years.
In total, 23 of 32 convictions (72%) included more than one year of confinement, compared with 26% for the service. Another 6 (19%) included 6 months to 1 year, and 3 (9%) included no confinement.
| Adjudged confinement | Convictions | Share here | Share, all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020 |
|---|---|---|---|
| No confinement | 3 | 9% | 15% |
| Under 6 months | 0 | 0% | 36% |
| 6 months to 1 year | 6 | 19% | 23% |
| More than 1 year, under 5 years | 11 | 34% | 20% |
| 5 years or more | 12 | 38% | 6% |
Almost All Cases Were General Courts-Martial
General courts-martial handled 32 of the 33 cases (97%), compared with 41% in all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020. A general court-martial can impose any lawful sentence, including long confinement and a dishonorable discharge. A special court-martial caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge. Only a general court-martial can adjudge more than a year of confinement.
The Accused by Rank
Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 58% of the accused, NCOs 39%, and officers 3%. Across all Navy and Marine Corps cases in 2020, junior enlisted members were 64%. The accused here were slightly more senior than in all Navy and Marine Corps cases.
Other Charges
Article 120b was the only charge in 6 of the 33 cases. Article 120 (sexual assault) was also charged in 20, Article 128 (assault) and Article 80 (attempt) in 16 each, Article 134 (general article) in 10, and Article 82 (solicitation) in 5.
A sentence covers every charge. The confinement and discharge numbers above therefore include these other charges. The records do not divide a sentence among charges.
Compared With 2019
The number of cases was about the same: 35 in 2019 and 33 in 2020. Median confinement went from 2.5 years to 3 years. Convictions that included confinement went from 100% to 91%. Punitive discharges for enlisted members went from 97% to 100%.
The contested share was about the same, 45% and then 46%. The general court-martial share was 97% in both years. Full acquittals in decided contested cases went from 2 of 9 to 1 of 6. A few cases can change figures in groups this small, so changes show direction only.
| 2019 | 2020 | |
|---|---|---|
| Cases | 35 | 33 |
| Contested (of pleas recorded) | 45% | 46% |
| Full acquittals (decided contested) | 2 of 9 | 1 of 6 |
| Convictions with confinement | 100% | 91% |
| Median confinement | 2.5 years | 3 years |
| Punitive discharge (enlisted) | 97% | 100% |
| General courts-martial | 97% | 97% |
Installations and Missing Information
Okinawa, Japan, tried 6 of these cases. Bremerton, Washington, tried 5; Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Kaneohe Bay, and Camp Pendleton, California, 4 each; and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 3. Together they account for 67% of the 33 cases. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.
The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not show the evidence, plea terms, or cases resolved by nonjudicial punishment or administrative separation.
For what the offense covers and how it is defended, see Article 120b on the law firm's website. Dates and sources for the law changes: UCMJ change timeline.
How We Counted
Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial with a trial date in 2020 that charged Article 120b (33 cases), compared with all Navy and Marine Corps cases that year and with 2019.
Source: public court-martial records (Article 140a, UCMJ) in Military Trial Results, data updated October 24, 2026. Definitions, sources, and known gaps: how this data was built. Errors: content@bodiesburied.com.
Related Analysis
- Article 120b (Rape and Sexual Assault of a Child): Court-Martial Data and Trends (hub)
- By Year (hub)
- Child Sexual Abuse at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2019: The Year in Numbers (previous / next)
- How Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Cases Ended in 2021 (previous / next)
- Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025 (the full trend)
- Child Sexual Abuse at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2018: The Year in Numbers
- How Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Cases Ended in 2017
- What Sentence Follows a Navy-Marine Corps Child Sexual Abuse Conviction?
- Article 120b explained on the law firm's website
- Search every case in Military Trial Results (members)
Compare: federal court. Child Sexual Abuse and Enticement: Federal Cases vs. Article 120b 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.