Factors that predicted the severity of a sentence were the seriousness of the offense, a prior conviction for a sex crime, and the young age of the victim. Convenience factors, such as the offender's confession, and systemic factors, such as having a court-appointed attorney, were not related to more severe sentences. Holding the seriousness of the offense, prior conviction, and the child's age constant, offenders were not disadvantaged by cooperating with the criminal justice system or being indigent. The data for this study was obtained from 323 criminal court case records that involved sex offenses against children. The cases examined spanned a period of 11 years. The Michigan county selected for the study placed a high priority on the prosecution of cases that involved the sexual abuse of children, and it had been successful in obtaining a large proportion of confessions in such cases. In the cases studied, 218 men were convicted and received a sentence. Multiple regression analysis was used to identify the factors that predicted sentence severity. 2 tables and 41 references