The capacity for sexual urges is inborn, but the ways in which sexuality is expressed are learned. Deviant sexual behavior is therefore a product of the environment, and its prevention lies in understanding its origins. Work with sexually abusive youth is a unique opportunity to explore the early manifestations of sexually exploitative behavior. The hypothesis of this paper is that the origin of these behaviors lies in early childhood experience. The interaction of various factors is not always apparent in explaining why an individual manifests sexual deviancy rather than some other dysfunction, but it is usually possible in the exploration of the sexually abusive person's early life experience to see those factors that create the risk of major dysfunctions in intimate relationships. In exploring the development of sexually abusive behaviors, three main threads of development can be traced that are apparently relevant to pedophilic behavior: an empty yearning and low self-esteem left over from early disregard or disruption in care, a lack of empathic modeling, and the sexualization of attempts to overcome inner conflict. Six case profiles are used to clarify these hypotheses. 12 references