Washington ? The FBI failed to take action to protect young House pages from former congressman Mark Foley’s potential predatory behavior, the inspector general of the Justice Department concluded on Monday.

But the IG report stopped short of finding official misconduct on the part of FBI agents who had been told about Foley’s suggestive e-mails but neither warned leaders of the page program nor investigated further.

This latest review of the Foley case reinforced concerns that officials in Washington tried to brush off his behavior. The House ethics committee in December concluded that House Republican leaders failed to heed warnings about Foley and neglected to ensure the safety of pages and interns.

Both reports are critical of the official response, but neither recommended punishment for those who had early word of Foley’s questionable contacts with teenagers but took no action.

The IG report focuses on the FBI’s handling of information provided by a government-watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which in July passed along suggestive e-mails sent from Foley to a former House page. These e-mails were not nearly as explicit as some that turned up later.

“He’s such a nice guy,” Foley said in one message, referring to another page. “Acts much older than his age. And he’s in really great shape …”

An FBI special agent, not named in the IG report, noted that the former page “appeared to be weirded out about it.” The material was turned over to the supervisor of the Cyber Crimes Squad, also unnamed, who concluded that the e-mails showed no clear evidence of criminal wrongdoing.

The supervisor told the IG that reviewing such e-mails was “not the job of the FBI. This is a parental job.” The inspector general disagreed.