A great deal of clinical and research attention has been paid to understanding and explaining child sex offenders’ social cognition. Cognitive distortions have been implicated as a core feature of child sex offenders’ offense supportive cognition. The phrase cognitive distortion implies two things. First, that it has something to do with cognition. Secondly, that it is in some way distorted from a normative understanding of reality. Over the years the term has been used to describe excuses, minimizations, denials, and justifications as well as entrenched beliefs that have been implicated in child sex offending. However, with the widespread use of the term, understanding exactly what these distortions are has been of great interest. The primary aim of this paper is to critically evaluate the current understanding of cognitive distortions. The paper begins with a review of major theories of child sexual offending with regard to the manner in which they conceptualize cognitive distortions. It then examines the available empirical evidence investigating cognition of child sexual offenders focusing on contributions made to understanding cognitive distortions. Finally, the paper evaluates various criticisms made of the concept of cognitive distortions in recent years and their implications for clinical practice. It suggests ways of integrating these into the current understanding of sex offending. The paper concludes with an evaluation of the current state of knowledge and suggests avenues for further inquiry. References