See the Video: Rep. Posey Smacks SEC Boss on Bernie Madoff Affair

Rep. Bill Posey challenged Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary Schapiro over what he called the agency's "decade of indifference or ineptitude" in the Bernie Madoff investigation.

Demanding to know what happened to up to 50 departed SEC investigators and examiners, Posey, R-Rockledge, likened the situation to "letting a pedophile slink out of a neighborhood and saying everything is OK.

"Stealing is still stealing, even if the government is in on the deal," Posey said.

"We need to know where these people are -- if they're at other agencies, where the blunder could be repeated, or at companies they were supposed to be regulating."

Schapiro acknowledged that mistakes were made because, among other things, some staffers were "not adequately trained or supervised."

But Schapiro said she did not know the whereabouts of the former SEC officials, or what disciplinary action may have been taken, if any.

See video from Tuesday's House Financial Services Committee meeting here.