Kenny MacAskill is under fire after admitting he hadn't read a report written by police and social workers in the wake of investigations into Scotland's worst ever paedophile ring.
The Justice Secretary told a radio show on Friday that the Scottish Government would "learn lessons" from the case which saw James Rennie and Neil Strachan jailed for life for child abuse and porn offences on Thursday.
Strachan was already on the sex offenders register for previous offences.
Mr MacAskill said he was being monitored but insisted "nobody knew" he was abusing his victim.
He said: "There is a report which has been carried out by both police and social work to look to learn lessons from this."
However, he is now facing fierce criticism, after he was forced to admit he had not read the report himself.
Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie blasted his comments as "extraordinary", saying "His primary duty is protect the public. How on earth can he do that if he won't read the report?"
Mr MacAskill said the case would provide lessons for all agencies, including the Government.
He insisted the Government was already working to tighten restrictions on known sex offenders and said he would back calls to limit their use of the internet.
However, Ms Goldie said that would fail to go far enough.
She said: "That is why Scottish Conservatives have repeatedly called for lie detector tests for sex offenders, as part of a package of measures which also include the naming and shaming of absconded sex offenders and GPS tracking.
“Sex offences, particularly those committed against children, are abhorrent and evil. Such offences can ruin the lives of victims and traumatise their families. How can the Justice Secretary ‘learn lessons’ if he won’t even read the report?”
