Concord, N.H. ? State prosecutors said Monday that Roman Catholic leaders in New Hampshire for decades ignored the danger posed by molesting priests — even those who admitted guilt — while misleading civil authorities and victims about the extent of sex abuse charges.

The accusations came in a 154-page report, accompanied by about 9,000 pages of church documents, detailing evidence the state would have used in a criminal case against the Diocese of Manchester.

“The state was … prepared to establish that in some instances, the diocese was willfully blind to the danger its priests posed to children,” said the report signed by Atty. Gen. Peter W. Heed and two assistants.

The diocese said it did not “necessarily agree” with all the state’s conclusions, but Bishop John McCormack — who took over in 1998, after most of the events in the report — apologized to victims and condemned child sex abuse.

In a 12-page response, the diocese also described its toughened approach to dealing with molesters in the clergy: The church said it will now remove a priest after one credible allegation of abuse.

The state stopped short of seeking an indictment against the diocese, which covers all of New Hampshire and serves about 326,000 Catholics, under a deal reached last December between church officials and then-Atty. Gen. Philip McLaughlin.

The church acknowledged its conduct had harmed children and that it probably would have been convicted of child endangerment, a misdemeanor, but for the settlement. It also agreed to Monday’s document release.

The material includes many examples of alleged mishandling of abuse cases, with details on 35 New Hampshire priests, 19 from Massachusetts and five members of religious orders. The report focuses on eight priests whose stories prosecutors felt best supported their case.

One example is the Rev. Paul Aube, who has acknowledged molesting several minors during the 1970s. Aube became a key player in the state investigation when he told prosecutors he admitted sexual misconduct and asked for help, but got none and continued to get assignments involving children.

The report said Aube claims then-Bishop Odore Gendron asked the Nashua police chief to cover up an incident in 1975 or 1976 when police found Aube, with his pants unzipped, parked on a dark road with a teenage boy.

Despite a doctor’s concerns and Aube’s request to be moved out of parish ministry, Gendron transferred him to Holy Rosary church in Rochester, Aube said.

Gendron retired in 1990.

Prosecutors also accused a church official of making “apparently false statements” in a presentencing investigation.

That came in the case of Rev. Roger Fortier, who was convicted in 1998 of assaulting two boys. The report said that, in the 1980s, Fortier admitted to Monsignor Francis Christian he had assaulted one child and provided alcohol and pornography to others.

But when Christian, by then an auxiliary bishop, was asked by a prison official in 1998 about Fortier’s past sexual misconduct with children, Christian wrote that he was not aware of any.

“His sexual problems with youth were unknown to the diocese,” Christian claimed.

Christian said Monday he didn’t offer the information because he assumed the official already had access to the relevant police files. “I was wrong, but I certainly in no way would deliberately withhold that information,” he said.