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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| 'Lessons learned' from abuse case | 'Lessons learned' from abuse case |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| A minister has promised "lessons will be learned" after two men at the centre of Scotland's largest known child abuse network were jailed for life. | A minister has promised "lessons will be learned" after two men at the centre of Scotland's largest known child abuse network were jailed for life. |
| Neil Strachan, 41, attempted to rape an 18-month-old boy and James Rennie, 38, sexually assaulted a three-month-old. | Neil Strachan, 41, attempted to rape an 18-month-old boy and James Rennie, 38, sexually assaulted a three-month-old. |
| Strachan, who filmed abuse and distributed the images on the web, was already on the sex offenders register. | Strachan, who filmed abuse and distributed the images on the web, was already on the sex offenders register. |
| Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said police and social workers had produced a report in the wake of the case. | Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said police and social workers had produced a report in the wake of the case. |
| He said he had not read the report, but added: "It's one of these things where all agencies will learn lessons, including government." | |
| 'No-one knew' | 'No-one knew' |
| Mr MacAskill said he would work with the authorities to deliver any necessary changes, but insisted he could not "micro-manage" or tell police how to run operations. | |
| The minister was asked on BBC Radio Scotland why no agency had realised the risk that Strachan posed to a family who had entrusted him with their children. | |
| He replied: "The great difficulty with this case was not stranger danger, this was somebody who inveigled themselves into a family, it was somebody they trusted implicitly. | He replied: "The great difficulty with this case was not stranger danger, this was somebody who inveigled themselves into a family, it was somebody they trusted implicitly. |
| "No-one knew that he was grooming this child." | "No-one knew that he was grooming this child." |
| The minister said the Scottish government was prepared to consider anything which could "make our communities safer from serious sex offenders", including monitoring their use of the internet. | |
| Changes are currently being brought in through the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill which will tighten restrictions on sex offenders, he added. | |
| 'UK issue' | |
| A pilot scheme is also running in Tayside which allows parents and carers to go to police to find out if someone in contact with children is a sex offender. | |
| Six other men have already been sentenced for their involvement in the network, but police said the operation had led to more than 200 suspected paedophiles, 70 of them in the UK, being identified. | Six other men have already been sentenced for their involvement in the network, but police said the operation had led to more than 200 suspected paedophiles, 70 of them in the UK, being identified. |
| Labour's community safety spokesman James Kelly today backed moves to restrict the use of the internet by sex offenders. | |
| He told the BBC's Good Morning Scotland programme: "I would certainly support that. | |
| "I think it's important that - and obviously its a UK issue - but we need to look at the issue of internet service providers and the sort of images and sites we're allowing people to access and the co-operation we give the police in cases like this." |