Chief Inspector Elliot Brown declared that police had no control over where predator Christopher Morrison resided, and that their role was to ‘manage’ him within the community.

The Telegraph revealed this week how Morrison had moved into a flat near Greenock’s Kelly Street Children’s Centre after being released early from prison.

Morrison, 22, had served just half of a 30-month sentence for committing an indecent sexual assault on a four-year-old boy in a supermarket toilet in Clydebank in 2012.

He was caught in his Greenock flat, just two months after his jail release, with a disgusting child abuse image on a mobile phone. Ch Insp Brown today explained the extent of the police’s powers in terms of monitoring people such as Morrison.

He said: “Police Scotland works in partnership with a number of agencies to ensure that offenders who commit sexual offences are robustly managed and that a thorough assessment is made of the locales and areas where they reside with a view to maintaining public safety.

“Unless specified through bail, licence condition or other order granted by the court, however, there are no specific powers available to prevent an individual residing in any given location.” The chief inspector added: “Public safety is the main priority in all cases; however whilst this remains the case, a balance is also required between public safety and the right of the individual.” Police discovered the picture on Morrison’s mobile — said by prosecutors to be at Level 3 on a seriousness scale of five — as part of their monitoring duties.

Morrison — who was living in the same street as the nursery — is today behind bars again on remand awaiting sentence for his latest sex crime.

He is due to appear at Greenock Sheriff Court again on 22 April.