Findings from recent research in Australia indicate that the percentage of sexual abuse committed by young people has remained relatively consistent at between 9 and 16 percent. Other findings include: almost 85 percent of the victims of adolescent sexual abusers were between the ages of 6 and 11; 94 percent of the abusers knew their victims; almost 46 percent abused someone within their family; the peer-aged victims of young men were mostly female; and 23 percent of adolescent sexual abusers are between the ages of 10 and 12, with 75 percent being age 15 or younger. This paper from the Australian Institute of Family Studies examines the problem of young people who commit acts of sexual abuse. Information for this report was obtained from a review of recent studies conducted governments, researchers, and treatment providers. The research looked at the problem of adolescent sexual abusers, the difference between sexual abuse and sexual experimentation, the victims of the abusers, the psychological and behavioral characteristics of the abusers, and the long-term effects of being an adolescent sexual abuser. The findings from the research show that sexual abuse by young people is serious and harmful to the victim, that it is not part of normal development, that there is no 'one size fits all' approach to understanding adolescent sexual abusers and that these young people need treatment and intervention, and that young people who sexually abuse are not destined to become adult sexual offenders. Tables, figures, and references