Kootenai County Republicans heard wrenching tales of childhood sexual abuse during the Friday morning meeting of the Pachyderm Club in Coeur d'Alene.

Pachyderms and sexual abuse by priests may seem like an odd combination, but members of the Spokane chapter of SNAP -- a national group formed to support and seek justice for victims of sexual abuse by clergy -- say Republicans have been open to their message about reforming time limits on prosecution of sex abuse against children.

"It was very well-received. It was excellent material," said Grace Ekstrom, a former pediatrician who was attending her first Pachyderm Club meeting. The group, formed last month, meets weekly to discuss local issues.

SNAP members said GOP members of a Washington legislative committee this winter all voted in favor of a bill to revise statutes of limitation to help victims of childhood sexual abuse confront their attackers in court, even if the accusations were made decades later.

The bill failed to get out of committee, 5-4, with five Democrats voting to block it, they said.

The bill was sparked by former Spokane County Prosecutor Don Brockett last fall, as he was reacting to allegations of sexual abuse by priests in the Spokane Catholic Diocese.

It's a subject that affects North Idaho, the SNAP members said. A number of victims who have come forward either are from North Idaho and attended Catholic schools in Spokane or are from Spokane and were abused by priests while on boats on Lake Coeur d'Alene or at area church camps or lake cabins, they told local Republicans.

In early January, Kootenai County Prosecutor Bill Douglas decided that Idaho law would not allow criminal prosecution of a former Spokane priest, Pat O'Donnell, who was accused of abusing some of his victims during sailing trips on area lakes.

The SNAP members included Molly Harding and Mike Ross, who co-founded the Spokane chapter last fall, Monica Olson, Mike Shea and a man wishing to be known only as R.H., who say they all were victims of childhood sexual abuse by clergy.

They said they hoped Washington and Idaho would join the dozen or so other states that have been prompted to revise their statutes of limitation in the wake of the national sex abuse scandal in the Catholic Church.

"I think we did bring to their attention that we can't rely on the Catholic Church for justice, we need the Legislature," Harding said. "They asked us if we would come back and talk again."

"These kinds of problems are time bombs that go off when victims reach middle age," said Duane Rasmussen, a Post Falls resident who accompanied the group Friday and who is representing others in a civil lawsuit.

It can take decades before a child who was sexually abused can come to grips with the aftermath. Almost always, it is too late to seek criminal justice, he said.

"We need to do something about this," Ekstrom said, "no matter what party you belong to."

"This doesn't go away, even with counseling. It stays for years and years, if not forever, and affects people's lives," she said.