A
custodial sentence is a
judicial sentence, imposing a punishment (and hence the resulting punishment itself) consisting of mandatory custody of the convict, either in
prison or in some other closed therapeutic and/or (re)educational institution, such as a
reformatory, (maximum security) psychiatry or
drug detoxification (especially
cold turkey). For some crimes, such as cases of
child sexual abuse, a custodial sentence is almost inevitable.