Thirty-one men participating in a residential treatment program for child abusers composed “victim apology letters” as a way of measuring and examining empathy deficits. The task was videotaped, transcribed and subject to grounded theory techniques. Intrafamilial offenders were more likely to minimize their behavior while exhibiting illicit power and control, whereas extrafamilial offenders were more likely to directly blame their victims and exhibit overtly explicit offense detail. From these open-coded categories, the axial categories of self as nonoffender, external blaming and secondary victimization were derived. The results may have implications for delivery of victim empathy components of sexual offender treatment programs. Certain offense types may need to focus on particular areas and treatment modules may need to be structured for certain types of individuals. A limitation of these findings is that grounded theory dictates a highly subjective formation of concepts and categories. Tables, appendix, references