Dutch Volleyball player who raped 12-year-old British girl qualifies for Paris Olympics

I mean one of the main issues is not whether he is remorseful or whether he is going to re-offend (those are obviously important) but how does this look to the poor girl he did this to? Like her feelings don't matter? He gets to just carry on like nothing has happened and be on TV living out his dreams while she lives with the memories of what happened every single day!

Its either amazingly fantastic news- and the Netherlands has made one of the biggest breakthroughs in criminal psychology and rehabilitation EVER in which case I look forward to this new knowledge being shared with the rest of the world. OR its complete and utter unmitigated bullshit. Time will tell.

Filthy creature should have been hung and then we wouldn’t have to worry.

Absolutely disgraceful

No actual expert would say this. I sometimes have to communicate risk in vaguely similar circumstances. The very very most I would say is, 'there appears to be no additional risk'. Because there's risk even with a man who has never offended. Sex offending has a very high recidivism rate and treatment isn't particularly effective.

Experts have concluded that there is no risk of recidivism

How can anyone say he won’t do it again? I get you could say low risk but to say “no risk” that’s something else.

Gor a reply from Dutch olympic communications

We sincerely thank you for your response. We are deeply aware that the renewed publicity about Steven van de Velde is causing a lot of emotion, which we fully understand, as the events at that time were very serious.
A lot has happened since then. Steven van de Velde served his sentence and has completed an extensive rehabilitation program with specialized professionals, including the probation service. During this process, Van de Velde has shown that he has grown and that he has positively changed his live. Experts have concluded that there is no risk of recidivism. In 2018, he gave a some interviews about his offence and its consequences. (Please take a moment to watch the w_ that Steven gave to Dutch national television).
The Dutch national volleyball federation (Nevobo) as well as the Dutch National Olympic Committee (NOCNSF) have closely monitored Steven’s progress and explicitly followed the advice of experts. This process has been fully in line with the Dutch Guidelines Integrity Recordss_, which set out the conditions that must be met by athletes to be given a second chance after a conviction.
Steven has been given this second chance and has been participating (since 2017) on international elite sport level. Throughout this time, he has consistently met the high standards set by the volleyball federation and NOCNSF.
Based on all of the above and after careful consideration, NOC*NSF has decided to select Steven van de Velde for the Olympic Games in Paris.

Yours sincerely,
Lieselot Meelker
Corporate communications NOC*NSF

I disagree. Mental suffering can be as painful or even more painful than physical suffering but it is (at least sometimes) curable through treatment or the passage of time. Or at least alleviated. It isn't at all uncommon for victims of sexual trauma to want to end their lives. They don't always feel like that forever.
But my main objection was that being molested as a child was considered to cause such long term irreversible damage that allowing her to die might be the kindest thing. But simultaneously molesting a child is a fairly minor crime of "fornication". You would think her clear suffering would trigger a change in law at the time but nope.

She was 17 and of sound mind. She took her own life by choosing to cease eating (not because of anorexia). I'm not sure force-feeding her and keeping her alive against her wishes would have been ideal either when she's nearly an adult. Mind you, I do think very differently now I'm in my 40s than when I was 18. It's so hard.

If she was say 30+ I wouldn't hesitate to support her 100%. I mean, it's sad when a young person dies but I fully support a person's right to decide to end their life. As long as they are adult and of sound mind. Mental suffering is not necessarily less painful than physical suffering.

I will stop spamming the thread now. But first, here are some email addresses, just in case anyone wants to write polite letters about this:

Dutch Olympic Committee contacts:
[email protected]
[email protected]

Defence for Children Netherlands (organisation with "promoting children's rights in the Netherlands and Internationally") could be asked about their opinions on the case:
English | Defence for Children
[email protected]

Defence for Children France (French version of the above)
[email protected]

Kids Rights foundation (Dutch NGO, advocates for children's rights abroad. Milton Keynes is abroad)
[email protected]

Links that are probably more useful if you are in the netherlands than outside it
Filing a complaint about the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport | Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport | Rijksoverheid.nl
Contact met het ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid | Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid | Rijksoverheid.nl

Long read here if anyone is interested in extradition law (if you like that sort of thing its fascinating)
The rule against the extradition of nationals: overview and perspectives | International Bar Association (ibanet.org)
There is also a general difference between common law and civil law countries. Not just in the law itself but in the whole attitude.

I completely agree! I wish they had given him a longer sentence, and I wish that they gave longer sentences in general. Its just that in practical terms it wouldn't have made any difference. He would have been sent back to the Netherlands and then released after just one year whatever sentence the UK courts gave him. I do think that a 20 year sentence would have sent a stronger message but it wouldn't have changed life for him.

He served one year of his sentence in the UK before being transferred back home.

4 years for rape of a minor was the sentence given by the UK judge so they can’t blame the Netherlands for that.

I don’t think either country have covered themselves in glory here. Time and again we see it here - strongly worded statements from judges which are then NOT backed by strong custodial sentences.

He refused to come to the UK voluntarily.** So he needed to be extradited and I believe the Dutch authorities have a policy where they will only extradite Dutch citizens if the other countries agree to extradite them back to serve their sentances in the Netherlands if the Dutch authorities request it. So the English courts didn't really have much choice. And as soon as he was back on Dutch soil the Dutch reduced his sentence because they don't consider it that bad a crime.

**But he's so remorseful

Volleyball gets very little coverage and given that only two sports can be shown live, and there is no UK team. So it may not be covered, albeit for different reasons.

Then the British authorities should never have agreed to him being transferred

This is the most upsetting and disgusting thing I've read in a long time. Thank you for highlighting it Op. That poor little girl.

I've signed the petition. It's annoying that the wording of the petition suggests he served the full 4 years, when clearly he didn't. (Though even if he'd served 10, it wouldn't change my view that no country should want or allow him to represent them as a sporting hero.

Ah okay - I think the updated version is correct. He just spent one year in total and it was in the UK - because it lines up with what I’ve read in various news report too.

I guess they updated it to correct the wrong info.

ETA: actually I’m not so sure now because on a bbc news article it says this :
He was allowed to return to the Netherlands to complete his sentence and has been released after a year. which I think is what you’re saying but then other news report suggest different.

Maybe he did serve one year here AND there 🤷🏾‍♀️I wish news media would be more accurate.

Although of course either way it’s a disgrace how little time he served.

It was the Wikipedia entry before it was edited recently.

Where are you getting this information from?

This is what I’m seeing online on Wikipedia and news stories “ He was to serve four years in a British prison by the Aylesbury Crown Court.[9]
After serving a year of his four year sentence, he was released from prison and returned to the Netherlands.”

So from what I can see he only served one year in total and that was in the UK? He was released fully after that year and went back to Netherlands.

Edited to shorten the quote.

He was transferred to prison in the Netherlands where he was released after a year as they don't treat this as a criminal offence in the same way.

Disgusting.

How must that girl feel. It beggars belief really. Totally disgusting. He has ruined her life for sure and then she has to know this What an absolute disgrace. All those involved in this decision should be ashamed of themselves. I hope the games his taking part in are boycotted

He was sentenced for 4 years but only served one year. Does anyone know why that is?

I know offenders often get released half way during a sentence, but he hasn’t even served half of his sentence??

The whole criminal justice system in the UK - and worldwide no doubt - needs an overhaul. Why are sex offenders getting sentenced for only 4 years? And why is early release so common?

Violent and sex offenders shouldn’t get early release. Especially not a quarter way through their sentence.