A group representing victims of sexual abuse by priests is questioning why as many as six alleged abusers were left off a list of “credibly accused” priests released by the Archdiocese of Hartford this week.

At a press conference Wednesday afternoon in front of the Archdiocese in Hartford, members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) also called on the church to release more information on the whereabouts of living abusers.

On Tuesday, Archbishop Leonard Blair released the names of 48 priests that either had been sued or were “credibly accused” of sex abuse, but Gail Howard, the director of the local chapter of SNAP, said the list is incomplete. As she stood on the steps of St. Joseph’s Cathedral in the shadow of the archdiocese’s offices she held a sign with the names of six clergy members she claims should have been included – priests Donal Collins, Cornelius T. “Neil” Otero, Enrique Vasquez and Walter A. Vichas, and brothers Thomas Sawyer and Michael Benedict Taylor.

"SNAP was able to identify six priests within 24 hours, how many others aren’t on there as well?” Howard said. “Where are the priests who are still alive now? You have child molesters trained and assigned to the Catholic Church they are now saying are no longer their responsibility,” Howard said. She called on the church to release photos of all the accused priests.

Father James Shanley said the archdiocese has reviewed the names presented by SNAP and two of them, Sawyer and Taylor, aren’t priests and Vichas has been sued but church officials haven’t deemed the allegation credible. The allegations against the three other priests - Otero, Collins and Vasquez - occurred in other dioceses and not while they were assigned to Hartford and they were removed once the allegations surfaced, he said.

“As indicated from the beginning, the Archdiocese will update its list as necessary, and Judge Antonio Robaina will be conducting his own independent investigation that will start on Feb. 1,” Shanley said. “The list released by the archdiocese includes: archdiocesan clergy who have been the objects of legal settlements or otherwise credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor from 1953 to the present; and religious order priests and priests from other dioceses who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse of a minor that took place in the Archdiocese of Hartford from 1953 to the present.”

Besides naming 48 priests accused of abuse, the archdiocese also announced it has paid about $50.6 million to settle more than 140 claims of sexual abuse. Among the priests identified Tuesday is a member of the Hall of Fame for the Connecticut State Firefighters Association, several priests who worked as chaplains at area hospitals and two who have been arrested on criminal charges.

Archbishop Leonard Blair also announced that the archdiocese had hired Robaina to conduct a complete review of all the church’s files going back to 1953, when the diocese was formed.

But Howard said that as well-intentioned as Robaina may be, an independent investigation needs to be done by law enforcement authorities. She called on Chief State’s Attorney Kevin Kane to open a victim’s hotline to hear their stories and then conduct a full investigation.

“Hired and independent don’t go together because if the church is paying for it then they can control it,” Howard said.

Howard said she sent a letter to the chief state’s attorney’s office six months ago asking to set up a hotline but never got an answer.

“Why is Connecticut, which is on the forefront of gun control, not doing an independent investigation of priest abuse?” Howard said.

It is not clear how many cases could be criminally prosecuted. On Tuesday, the archdiocese said “the criminal statute of limitations had expired before most of the incidents of abuse became known and therefore criminal prosecutions of the clergy in question were not possible. In more recent times, criminal statutes of limitations have been extended to allow for longer time periods for prosecution of such crimes occurring after those extensions became effective.”

Of the 48 priests named who have either had civil lawsuits filed against them or have been the subject of claims that archdiocese officials deemed credible are six priests from other dioceses who allegedly abused a minor while assigned to Hartford and six priests from other religious orders. Almost all of the claims were for abuses that occurred before 1990, and $35 million was paid to victims who were abused in the 1970s but didn’t file lawsuits until years later.

The archdiocese did not specify how many claims were made against each priest nor did it say when the alleged incidents connected to individual priests occurred.

The average settlement was just more than $356,000. While nearly all of the abuse allegations occurred before 1990, nearly all of the settlements weren’t resolved until after 2000. The highest settlement paid was $1.6 million. Slightly more than half of the $50.6 million was paid by the church’s insurance carrier and the rest came from the general reserve fund. Of the 142 claims that were settled, about 84 percent involved allegations against nine priests. One priest had 20 credible abuse claims against him that were settled for $10.7 million.

Blair said that there are no current priests in the archdiocese who have had credible accusations of sexual abuse made against them. The archdiocese is paying about $1,900 a month to two priests who have been sentenced to a life of prayer and penance and the same amount to two others who have been removed from the ministry.