A chief constable claims men who have sex with girls of 13 or over should not be classed as paedophiles.
Terry Grange, chief constable of Dyfed-Powys Police, said he believed paedophiles should be classed as men who had sex with pre-pubescents.
The UK law states the age of consent is 16 and anyone who has sex with a younger child has committed an offence.
But in an interview with the Sunday Times, Mr Grange said men who have sex with children should not be classed as paedophiles if their victim was between 13 and 15.
Mr Grange, the spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers on child protection and managing sex offenders, also told the newspaper that the law on child pornography should apply accordingly.
"It's much more of an issue for me if a child is under 13," he said.
"I think the closer they get to 16, the more it becomes a grey area and I think everyone in the field of dealing with sexual health and sexual activity acknowledges that."
Mr Grange said: "You take a look at the circumstances and try to make the right decision for that case. It may be nothing, it may be formal warnings, it may be prosecution."
