Fewer or More? Child Sexual Abuse Charges at Navy-Marine Corps Courts-Martial, 2017–2025

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

Based on 263 cases · 2017–2025 · Navy and Marine Corps records · data updated October 24, 2026

Fewer Cases Each Year

The yearly counts were 2017: 49, 2018: 50, 2019: 35, 2020: 33, 2021: 32, 2022: 15, 2023: 16, 2024: 20, and 2025: 13. Altogether the 263 cases were 7% of the 3,740 Navy and Marine Corps courts-martial in those years.

Shares show the same decline and allow comparison between years with different numbers of cases. In 2017–2019, Article 120b was part of 124 of 1243 convictions with offenses listed (10%). In 2023–2025 it was 44 of 940 (5%). By single year, the share was highest in 2018, at 11%, and was 3% in 2022 and 2025. The yearly count of these convictions was highest in 2018, at 46.

Confinement Was Much Longer Than the Service Median

Of 241 convictions, 232 included confinement. The median confinement was 3 years, compared with 6 months for all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. A quarter were 8 years or longer, and 1 was a life sentence.

182 of 241 convictions (76%) included confinement longer than one year, compared with 25% for all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. Terms of 5 years or more were 37% of convictions, compared with 7%. Terms under 6 months were only 4%, compared with 35%. These are adjudged sentences, before any plea-agreement cap, clemency, or appeal. They cover every charge in a case.

Punitive Discharges

Among 230 enlisted members convicted, 224 received a bad-conduct or dishonorable discharge (97%), compared with 62% for all Navy and Marine Corps convictions. Of those, 167 were dishonorable, the more severe form. All 10 convicted officers or warrant officers were dismissed.

A sentence without a punitive discharge does not rule out a later administrative separation. Few convictions here had no punitive discharge.

Almost 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 caps confinement at one year and cannot impose a dishonorable discharge.

249 of the 263 cases (95%) were general courts-martial, compared with 43% in the rest of the Navy and Marine Corps. At general courts-martial, the median confinement was 3 years and 34% of cases were contested. At the 14 special courts-martial, the median confinement was 8 months and 27% were contested.

Pleas and Verdicts

A case is contested when the accused pleads not guilty to at least one charge. Of 175 records that list a plea, 59 were contested and 116 were guilty pleas. That makes 34% contested, compared with 32% in the rest of the service.

32% of the 59 contested cases that reached a verdict ended in a full acquittal, about the same as the 31% in the rest of the service. Another 7 ended in a partial acquittal: not guilty of at least one charge and guilty of another.

Navy and Marine Corps records from earlier years often omit the plea, so these figures rely on the records that list one. The records do not say why an accused pleaded guilty or not guilty.

Other Charges in These Cases

Article 120b was the only charge in 48 of 263 cases. The rest charged other articles too, most often Article 80 (attempt) in 112 cases, Article 120 (sexual assault) in 98, Article 128 (assault) in 84, Article 134 (the general article) in 83, and Article 82 (solicitation) in 24.

Who Was Charged, and Where

Junior enlisted members (E-1 to E-4) made up 49% of the accused, NCOs 45%, and officers 5%. For all Navy and Marine Corps cases, junior enlisted members were 63%, so this group was more senior.

Camp Lejeune, North Carolina (36), Okinawa, Japan (36), Camp Pendleton, California (24), San Diego, California (20), and Bremerton, Washington (18) had the most cases, together 51% of the total. Larger installations try more cases of every kind.

Law Changes Over the Period

The Military Justice Act of 2016 took effect on January 1, 2019. It brought fixed panel sizes, judge-alone special courts-martial, and written plea agreements. Cases with offenses from before 2019 kept the old rules. Article 120b is a covered offense. Since December 28, 2023, special trial counsel, not commanders, decide whether to prosecute it. Judges sentence within new parameters when every guilty finding is for an offense after December 27, 2023.

These rules depend on offense dates, which the records do not give. The decline in counts happened in the same period as these changes. The records cannot show whether one caused the other.

What the Records Cannot Show

The records give trial dates, not offense dates. They do not describe the evidence or plea terms. Cases resolved outside a court-martial do not appear.

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.

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.