THE OFFENDERS STUDIED WERE REFERRED BY MASSACHUSETTS COURTS TO A SPECIAL FORENSIC MENTAL HEALTH FACILITY CREATED ESPECIALLY TO HANDLE PERSONS CONVICTED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT. CONTRARY TO OPINIONS POPULARLY HELD BY PROFESSIONALS AND LAY PERSONS ALIKE, THE CHILD MOLESTER IS A RELATIVELY YOUNG HETEROSEXUAL MAN WHO IS NEITHER INSANE, RETARDED, NOR SEXUALLY FRUSTRATED. VICTIMS ARE USUALLY GIRLS. THE STUDY FOUND THAT 71 PERCENT OF THE OFFENDERS WERE UNDER AGE 35, THAT 71 PERCENT KNEW THE VICTIM AT LEAST CASUALLY AND 14 PERCENT WERE MEMBERS OF THE CHILD'S IMMEDIATE FAMILY. THERE WERE NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OFFENDERS AND THE GENERAL POPULATION IN INTELLECTUAL ABILITY, AND THE ROLE OF DRUGS AND ALCOHOL HAS BEEN OVERSTATED. DRUG USE WAS ESSENTIALLY NONEXISTENT AMONG THE SUBJECTS; LESS THAN A THIRD COULD BE DESCRIBED AS ALCOHOL DEPENDENT, AND 34 PERCENT ABSTAINED FROM THE USE OF ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES. THE SEXUAL FRUSTRATION MYTH WAS REFUTED BY THE FACT THAT THE MAJORITY OF THE ENCOUNTERS WITH CHILDREN COEXISTED WITH SEXUAL ENCOUNTERS WITH ADULTS. MOST SUBJECTS DID NOT EXHIBIT CLINICAL PATHOLOGIES; THEY DID APPEAR TO HAVE MULTIPLE LIFE DIFFICULTIES. EXCEPT FOR A FEW, OFFENDERS DID NOT PROGRESS TO INCREASINGLY VIOLENT ACTS. GREATER FORCE OVER TIME WAS SHOWN BY 27 MEN, 13 HAD COMMITTED VIOLENT SEXUAL ASSAULT, AND IN 2 CASES THE CHILD DIED. CHILD MOLESTERS APPEAR TO ACT ALONE, ARE SPECIFIC ABOUT THE AGE OF CHILD, AND ACT COMPULSIVELY. ALSO, MANY WERE MOLESTED THEMSELVES AS CHILDREN. THE IMPLICATIONS OF THESE FINDINGS FOR SENTENCING AND TREATMENT ARE DISCUSSED. SUGGESTIONS FOR RESEARCH ARE MADE, AND REFERENCES ARE INCLUDED. (GLR)