Important implications on punishment theory, law, and practice in contemporary China demonstrated in this study include: (1) the current Chinese Criminal Law and legal punishment practices are deeply rooted in the retributive and deterrent perspectives and (2) due to the wide range of criminal sentences proscribed by criminal law for a particular offense, it is difficult to gauge whether and to what extent the law is adhered to in adjudication. However, in an analysis of legal rulings in 67 cases involving 136 offenders in 4 types of sexual assault cases against women, it may be concluded that Chinese judicial officers exercise wide discretion in meting out criminal punishment. The discretion, in most cases, fell within the boundary of legal provisions. The analysis also revealed that the Chinese judges seemed not afraid of using the most severe punishment, life imprisonment and the death penalty, as permitted by law. Based on the analysis, offenders have been sentenced to death when involved in rape, abduction of women, sexual assault, and forcing women into prostitution. Growing attention has been paid to female victimization around the world in recent decades. Tables, references