[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 157 (2011), Part 5]
[Senate]
[Page 6837]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    RECOGNIZING THE ALLY FOUNDATION

  Mr. BROWN of Massachusetts. Mr. President, I rise today to honor The 
ALLY Foundation, an inspirational organization in Massachusetts. In the 
summer of 2002, a young woman named Alexandra ``Ally'' Zapp walked into 
a fast food restaurant's restroom in Massachusetts and was brutally 
murdered.
  Soon after Ally's death, her parents learned that the man who killed 
Ally was not just an employee of the restaurant but an extremely 
dangerous sexual predator with 24 previous criminal convictions, 
including rape and kidnapping.
  Ally's mother, Andrea Casanova, and stepfather, Steven Stiles, turned 
their anger to resolve and their sadness to hope and founded The ALLY 
Foundation. The ALLY Foundation is dedicated to changing the way our 
society deals with sexual predators and educating policymakers, 
employers, and the general public on sexual violence. Their work 
initially involved learning all they could about sexual violence, 
poring over research, attending conferences, and interviewing dozens of 
experts. Andrea soon became an expert herself and a compelling presence 
at sex offender management conferences.
  Andrea and Steve's tireless research confirms that current criminal 
statutes and incarceration guidelines as they pertain to sexual 
violence often go unenforced and are at best inconsistent. There are an 
estimated 600,000 sex offenders in the country and authorities have not 
accounted for as many as 100,000 offenders.
  The ALLY Foundation does more than merely raise awareness of a 
problem; they're helping to solve it. Within 2 years of Ally's murder, 
The ALLY Foundation had already made a significant impact on public 
policy, including helping to pass Massachusetts's sexually dangerous 
commitment law--known as the Ally Zapp Law--to keep sex offenders 
predators off the street after they complete their criminal sentence.
  Ally's tragic death and countless other attacks were the result of a 
legal system largely unequipped to handle the unique dynamics of sexual 
predation. Ally's killer should never have been free, let alone work 
around the general public.
  In less than a decade, The ALLY Foundation has had a profound impact 
on public policy. It is impossible to know how many lives have been 
saved or how many were spared the physical and emotional scars of 
sexual abuse and violence. But the fact remains that thanks to The ALLY 
Foundation, public officials and employers are far better educated and 
equipped to enact laws and adjust policies to reflect the unique nature 
of sexual violence. I commend Andrea and Steve for all they do.

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