Adolescents who commit sexual offenses often have major deficits in their care histories. Many have grown up in families where they have witnessed violence and suffered abuse. Personal experiences of abuse during childhood and/or abusive experiences during critical periods of the juvenile's development may cause serious distortions in psychological, emotional, sexual, and social development and functioning. Such abuse may lead to traumatic sexualization, a sense of powerlessness, a sense of betrayal, and a sense of guilt and blame for what has happened. Sexually abusive behavior by juveniles may be symptomatic of problems in normal juvenile sexual and social development, or it may be a departure from normal child and adolescent development. Groth and Lorendo (1981) provide useful guidelines to help determine whether a juvenile's sexual behavior is inappropriate. The guidelines pertain to the age relationship between the persons involved, the social relationship between the persons involved, the type of sexual activity, how the sexual contact occurs, the persistence of the sexual activity, progression regarding the nature or frequency in the sexual activity, the nature of the fantasies that precede or accompany the abusive behavior, and any distinguishing characteristics of the persons who are targets of the sexual assaults. This paper discusses juvenile sexual offenses as a continuum of behavior and argues for early intervention that involves both accountability and treatment designed to reduce the risk of recidivism. 1 figure and 72 references