UCMJ Article 134: Extramarital Sexual Conduct (Adultery)

At Bilecki Law Group, we defend service members against charges under Article 134 of the UCMJ. This includes, but is not limited to, charges of extramarital sexual conduct under the General Article.

Adultery may seem like an outdated offense that should have been dropped from the UCMJ decades ago. But that has not stopped the military from prosecuting alleged adulterers throughout the years. Even today, if a service member is caught unprepared, the results can be catastrophic to his or her career.

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How To Fight Back Against Charges Of Extramarital Sexual Conduct?

Clearly the military does not dishonorably discharge every service member caught in an affair. If they did, the ranks would be decimated in a quick minute.

However, there can be a double standard in how these allegations are handled. If the same married First Sergeant who chewed your ass about morals was having an affair on the last deployment, that is an issue to raise with your defense lawyer. It does not, by itself, defeat the charge against you.

This is about saving your military career and fighting for the best possible outcome. Don’t get me wrong, we’re not going to let the prosecution get away with easily proving the affair occurred. We’re going to make them work for it. However, we need to keep you in the fight for this nation.

We examine the full messages, the dates, the witness accounts and what actually establishes that a sexual act occurred. We also check the marriage, divorce and separation records and what you knew about the other person’s marital status. A rumor or an accusation does not establish every element of this offense.

If the government says the conduct harmed unit discipline or brought discredit on the service, we examine the facts offered to support that claim. Rank, duty relationships, orders, government resources and what others knew can all matter. An affair alone does not relieve the government of proving that additional element.

We need to show who you are and what you have done. If a divorcing spouse is out for vengeance, we need the messages, timeline and other facts that support that concern. If that same spouse was visiting one Jody after the other on your last deployment, we examine whether that history bears on the accusation or a witness’s credibility. It does not, by itself, excuse an offense.

Why Hire Bilecki Law Group?

An experienced defense team: Even the best military defense attorneys require the support of an experienced team if they hope to provide positive results consistently for their clients. Tim and Ben build your defense together and can select independent investigators and experts for the problems the case actually presents. Your case drives the team we assemble.

Getting the defense moving: Bilecki Law Group is based in Tampa, Florida, and represents service members worldwide. Tim and Ben both travel for courts-martial and administrative boards. We begin the work remotely, coordinate across time zones, and plan travel around what your defense requires.

Marriages are messy and hard things, but so is war. Reach out to us and let us help keep you in the fight for this nation. We’ll fight to protect your career, because our nation needs you. Get us into this fight on your behalf.

What Must The Government Prove Under Article 134?

Article 134 is often called the General Article. The current offense commonly called adultery is extramarital sexual conduct. For a conviction, the prosecution must prove all three elements beyond a reasonable doubt:

1. 1You wrongfully engaged in extramarital sexual conduct with another person.
2. 2At the time, you knew that you or the other person was married to someone else.
3. 3Under the circumstances, the conduct prejudiced good order and discipline in the armed forces, was of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces, or both.

The covered acts are genital to genital, oral to genital, anal to genital and oral to anal sexual intercourse, whether the people are of the same or opposite sex. The government must still prove the remaining elements; the type of act alone does not establish the offense.

For prejudice to good order and discipline, the issue is a direct and obvious injury, such as a divisive effect on unit discipline or morale or harm to military authority. Conduct can also be of a nature to bring discredit on the armed forces even when the effect on unit discipline is indirect. A private and discreet relationship may still prejudice good order and discipline. We examine the circumstances and the theory actually charged.

Older allegations require a separate look at the offense and law in effect at the time.

Does Separation Or A Mistake About Marital Status Matter?

Living apart is not the same as a court-ordered legal separation. A marriage continues until it is legally dissolved. For the legal-separation defense, each person must have been either unmarried or legally separated by an order of a court with authority to issue it at the time of the conduct. Your own separation does not establish that defense if the other person remained married and was not legally separated.

We obtain the actual orders and check their dates. A pending divorce can matter when assessing the military effect of the conduct, even when it does not establish the legal-separation defense.

An honest and reasonable mistake can also be a defense if you believed both of you were unmarried or legally separated, or lawfully married to each other. We examine what you were told and what the available documents and messages supported. Once the evidence raises that defense, the government must disprove it beyond a reasonable doubt. A belief based on a negligent failure to check the facts does not qualify.

What Is The Maximum Punishment?

For an enlisted service member at a general court-martial, the maximum punishment includes a dishonorable discharge, forfeiture of all pay and allowances, one year of confinement and reduction to E-1. Commissioned officers may face dismissal instead. The authorized punitive separation depends on military status, and officers are not sentenced to reduction to E-1.

Extramarital sexual conduct is a Category 1 offense, with an ordinary confinement range of zero to 12 months. In noncapital general and special courts-martial where every convicted offense occurred on or after 28 December 2023, the military judge applies the sentencing parameters; a justified departure requires a written explanation. A category range cannot increase the offense’s maximum or the court-martial’s jurisdictional limit. Plea agreements can also affect the sentence.

The maximum is not a prediction of your result. A conviction does not automatically mean that every listed punishment will be imposed.