Dutch volleyball player who raped 12 year old British girl qualifies for Olympics

I also included a reference to the 2017 report they did on abuse in sport, thanks to the pp for sharing.

I emailed them, and did it in Dutch and explained that I had lived here for many many years and my children were born and grew up here. Also pointed out that their website had multiple pictures of children playing sport and they really emphasized their role in encouraging children to participate in sport and the hypocrisy there.

Also, they SHOULD be interested in views from outside the country since they are really not looking their country look good here and this is the whole point of participating in the Olympics.

Thanks, and thanks for the email address. I'll do the same.

@Grammarnut its one thing to talk about rehabilitation in general - should people find work after being in prison (even after terrible crimes). But people chosen for the Olympics are specifically chosen to represent their country. When (e.g.) Mo Farah was winning marathon's he was representing the UK, wearing the UK flag and being cheered on by the UK. Its not just a "job" its a massive privilege and an honour. If the Dutch Olympic team employed a child rapist to do the admin that's one thing. They choose a child rapist to represent their country in the international stage because that's who they want to represent the Dutch people. A man who got a 12 year old drunk and then repeatedly raped her.
Besides which, his team didn't even wait until his "time" (the initial pathetic 4 year sentence) had elapsed. He was back with them almost as soon as he was out of prison on remand parole (edited)

And - the IOC considers its athletes "role models" and part of signing up to the Olympics is agreeing to that.

And - he isn't even sorry for what he did. He thinks he was unfairly vilified (and the actions of the Dutch will be reinforcing that view)

Sorry for ranting. This has made me really angry.

I focused on the pre meditated rape of a child and the fact that athletes are committed to being role models.

The whole thing is repulsive. He met her on Facebook, flew to the UK, plied her with booze, then assaulted her.

I've sent one too. In their shoes I probably wouldn't be very interested in views from outside the country, but it will at least cause them some work and maybe encourage some thought.

I focused on the pre meditated rape of a child and the fact that athletes are committed to being role models.

Well done. Sounds good.

There is always a problem with criminal convictions. He raped a 12 year old girl. You would expect a long prison sentence and sex offenders list. But should his crime end his career? If you make it that a criminal (whatever their crime) cannot rehabilitate you make it impossible for them to cease criminal activity. Since this is a conviction for rape of a minor (paedophilia) he ought not to have gained parole so early. His career should have no impact on the sentence, either. Perhaps there is a case for concealing career details/uni prospects etc from judges so that they sentence for the crime not for the person. (This is why I don't like victim statements - how victim feels/doesn't feel should have no influence on the sentence which should be for the crime itself - many will remember the Ealing Vicarage rape where the judge said the victim was not particularly traumatised and reduced the sentences of the perpetrators). Whole thing is complicated. Appalled Olympic committee is letting him enter.

OK, so I emailed the Dutch Olympic Committee on [email protected]

I am writing to express my outrage that Steven van de Velde has qualified for the NL Olympic Volleyball team. This man travelled to the UK to rape a 12-year-old girl in 2016. He is not worthy of being an Olympian and brings the whole Netherlands team into disrepute. A rapist should not represent his country. A paedophile should not represent his country. I urge you to remove this man from the team.

Is this case getting much attention in Holland?

It seems like their Olympic Committee haven't confirmed the selection yet. If there's enough public outrage/poor publicity....

Fucking gross.

I don't think it was. He was sentenced in the UK but allowed to serve the latter part of his sentence in the Netherlands where he was eligible for release under their own rules.
So the UK fucked up by giving him such a pitiful 4 year sentence. The Dutch fucked up more by deciding to release the poor injured lamb so soon. And his team mates fucked up by immediately welcoming back with open arms as soon as he was released (before the 4 years was even up!) and the Dutch Olympic committe fucked up by deciding "yes, this is who we want to represent out country. A man who rapes 12 year olds."

So enough blame to go round I think.

How is he even allowed into other countries?? Chris Brown was barred from entering the UK after being convicted of assaulting Rihanna for TEN YEARS!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62017262.amp

A report commissioned by the Dutch Olympic Committee says urgent action must be taken to tackle widespread sexual abuse and harassment in sports in the Netherlands.
https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/sexual-abuse-sport-dutch-olympic-committee-1.4444325

English wikipedia and NL wikipedia are interesting.

The English overview: Steven van de Velde (born 8 August 1994, in The Hague) is a Dutch beach volleyball player and convicted rapist. Van de Velde won the Dutch national championships Under-20 in 2011. With partner Michiel van Dorsten he represented the Netherlands at the 2015 European Games. Together with partner Dirk Boehlé, he finished 3rd at the Blooming Beach Aalsmeer of the 201 blah blah blah. The first main chapter is on his crime

The Dutch overview: Steven van de Velde (Den Haag, 8 augustus 1994) is een Nederlands beachvolleybalspeler. Hij werd vijfmaal nationaal kampioen. His crime is only mentioned much much later, and then its only 2 sentences (one for the crime, one for the sentence) and the description underplays what he did

And then, because I am a loser with time on my hands, I looked at the edit history and there are edits made by people "to make his criminal past more visible..." followed swiftly by another editor reverting to the original. Curious.

What would the mechanism for such a short sentence and then releasing him so early have been?

I know people do get released early, but after only 1/4 of their sentence is unusual? It was the British courts that did that 😪

🤯

His pitiful sentence.

Representing your country is an honour for athletes. I would not like my country to be represented by a convicted child rapist. If I were Dutch I would be outraged and as an onlooker I’m horrified.

I'm not usually the most dynamic feminist but I am going to write to the Dutch team saying how shocking this decision is. I hope others will do the same. I need to do something with my rage and I think sending the message, even if it's disregarded is important.

It’s like Roman Polanski. What does a raped girl here or there matter when it’s an ‘exceptional man’ . ?
Do you not remember the celebrities who rushed to Polanski’s side and still worked with him.

Utterly contemptible.

What are the rules on booing at Olympic events?

I am very sorry this happened to you. That is awful. 💐

To me that is not about being liberal or not liberal though. Just horrible.

Netherlands hosts the highest number of child sexual abuse reports 82,605 (32%) in the EU, followed by Slovakia with 31,826 (12%)
https://www.iwf.org.uk/news-media/news/eu-still-hosts-the-most-child-sexual-abuse-material-in-the-world/

@IamaRevenant Are you black/not white by the way? There is a lot of defensive "Oh no, we can't possibly be racist, racism is a bad thing that happens in countries like America. So terribly sad what happens there" even when something very obviously racist has happened. I think the ideal of being liberal and tolerant gets confused for reality (except child rapists who apparently we are very tolerant of. Yay.)

I like the Dutch but there is a lot of hypocrisy (I am sure there is in lots of other countries too). Its easy to miss a lot of the nuance/negatives etc when you are visiting and don't speak the language compared to living there and seeing the bad sides. That said, most of the people I know would not be supportive of a child rapist. This story has not really been that widely reported that I noticed. I shall however be bringing it up.