The 42 children--34 females and 8 males--were victims entering a treatment program at a social service agency in eastern Washington. Most children were interviewed within 1 year of the abuse or its disclosure. Information about circumstances of the abuse was obtained by each child's therapist, primarily through an examination of child protective service records and nonperpetrating parents. The Sexual Abuse Perceptions Scale was used to probe victim cognitive processing of the sexual abuse vignette. Overall, responses of abused children were consistent with perceptions of betrayal, sexualization, secrecy pressure, and coercion with few perceptions of victim blame. Comparisons between perceptions of two developmentally distinct age groups (4-8 years and 10-12 years) indicated younger children exhibited greater perceptions of victim blame than older children. Older children, however, attributed a more negative self-concept to the vignette victim and responded with greater perceptions of coercion. The significance of the findings is discussed in terms of child sexual abuse prevention and treatment. 34 references and 4 tables