The data file included all defendants (n=883) bound over for trial in Detroit Recorder's Court on charges of first-second- or third-degree criminal sexual conduct from April 1, 1975, through December 31, 1984. In comparing sexual assaults that involved child and adult victims, the study examined five case-processing decisions: the decision regarding whether to dismiss the charges against the defendant, conviction decisions, sentencing decisions, whether a convicted defendant was incarcerated, and the maximum sentence imposed on offenders who were incarcerated. Results show that cases with child victims differed in important ways from cases with adult victims and that these differences affected case outcomes. Cases with child victims were less likely than cases with adult victims to be aggravated sexual assaults. When these differences were taken into account, offenders convicted of assaulting children faced a higher risk of incarceration than did offenders convicted of assaulting adults. 4 tables and 16 references