WASHINGTON (CNN) — The House ethics committee has found that GOP leaders did not break any rules in handling allegations of improper Internet exchanges between former Rep. Mark Foley and former pages, but they were negligent in protecting the teenagers.

No one will be reprimanded, the panel said.

Among the findings included in the report released by the committee: In addition to e-mails, Foley sent instant messages containing “sexually explicit and salacious language” to one or more former congressional pages, and that several Republican lawmakers and staffers knew of the correspondences before they were made public.

“The failure to exhaust all reasonable efforts to call attention to potential misconduct involving a member and House page is not merely the exercise of poor judgment; it is a present danger to House pages and to the integrity of the institution of the House,” the report’s executive summary states.

More at CNN.com

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