The legal parameters regarding adult-child sexual intimacy varies across states. In many states, rules regarding the definition of "child" and age-of-consent laws seem to perpetuate lax and ambivalent responses to adult- child sex. To explore the criminal response to adult-child sex, particularly statutory rape, seven active male and female police officers serving North-eastern Ohio were queried about their knowledge, perceptions, and lived experiences. Using snowball-sampling methods, open-ended questions guided our face-to-face interviews. Based upon a pattern of emergent themes we identified, the findings suggest that police officers generally perceived statutory rape as (a) a social issue (rather than a criminal act) common in low-income urban communities; (b) a low-priority crime lacking in seriousness; (c) an incident that is often accompanied by noncompliant parties and a lack of evidence; and (d) lacking apparent harm to the teenager involved. These perceptions were often linked to expressed police officer ambiguity, ambivalence, and malfeasance. This case study reveals the significance of gaining better perspectives of police officer's perceptions of statutory rape and their overall response to such incidences. (Contains 2 tables and 2 figures.)