All cases of sexual crimes against children recorded by the police during 1984 were included in the study. Of 886 child victims and 682 reported offenders appearing in the files, 508 offenders were identified by the police. It was found that social and alcohol problems occurred more often among suspected fathers than among other suspected persons. The proportion of fathers who had been previously prosecuted for crimes, however, was relatively small. About 15 percent of the fathers had been previously prosecuted for sexual offenses against children. Suspected adults not known by the child represented the group of suspects with the highest proportion of earlier convictions. Property crimes were the most common criminal acts for which persons in this group had been prosecuted. More than half of these suspects had been previously prosecuted for a sexual crime, and more than one-fourth had been prosecuted for sexual offenses against children. The mean age of young suspects was between 17 and 18 years of age. Young suspects did not differ markedly from adult suspects with regard to social and pathological problems. On the other hand, young suspects exhibited fewer alcohol problems and had more criminal backgrounds. Of the 508 persons identified by the police, 201 were prosecuted and 179 were sentenced in court for the reported sexual crime. The proportion of persons who were prosecuted and convicted in court was lowest among young offenders. Among prosecuted fathers, almost 60 percent were sentenced to prison. References, tables, and figures