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

I always thought of Olympic athletes as ambassadors for their countries. He's not showing the Netherlands in a good light. Quite the opposite, unless they want the rest of the world to see the Dutch as perverted, grooming child abusers.

“It’s a long time to go on paying for that mistake for the rest of your life.”

It wasn't a mistake, Paula, it was a premeditated crime.

She has a daughter. How would she have felt if a 19 year old man had groomed and raped her daughter when she was 12? Is Paula ignorant of the facts or totally lacking in empathy?

I have the impression she is rather ignorant about what the rapist did.

”As I understand it he served his jail time.”

No he didn’t.

“It’s a long time to go on paying for that mistake for the rest of your life.”

He would only be paying the price of not getting the glory of being in the Olympics, meanwhile his life continues free and clear.

He was not actually punished fairly once.

The girl will have her sentence for life.

Paula Radcliffe supports him https://www.dailymail.co.uk/video/sport/video-3239555/Video-Paula-Radcliffe-wishes-luck-Dutch-athlete-raped-12-year-old.html

Major misjudgement / idiocy (you choose which) by Paula Radcliffe.

She said in an interview that it was a "tough thing to punish him twice" and that she "wished him the best of luck", drawing parallels with drugs cheats who are given second chances in sport.

Now she's saying she expressed it badly. No, it's not the way you said it, Paula, it's what you said that's really bad.

https://www.itv.com/news/anglia/2024-07-25/radcliffe-mortified-at-wishing-convicted-rapist-luck-at-olympics

Yes, and ignoring the grooming beginning two years earlier ( someone on this thread found out), or the planning and forethought it takes to get on a plane.

From my pov it is not the age difference, it was that she was 12. That is the crux of it. He groomed and raped a child and got away with 12 months in jail and is now representing his country. An insult to his victim.
If he had been 29 and she had been 22, and they were in a sexual relationship, that would be fine with me. I don't get this 'age difference' thing. My late DH was 5 years older than me, my ex-DH about 10 years older than me. My late DH's previous DP (third wife, I am fourth) was 11 years older than him.
It's that the girl was a child that matters and would matter whatever the age difference was.

Sadly I think you are correct there. I read through a few articles in the Dutch press on this topic last night and without fail they expressed complete bafflement at the international reaction. Comments from the public (including a large number of women) overwhelmingly suggested that it was a youthful Indiscretion, he’s paid his dues and should be allowed to move on now.

There also seemed to be an assumption that what happened was ill judged but consensual, instead of the grooming and child rape that it clearly was.

I was quite shocked to read it all.

Article from the Guardian

"However this week the Netherlands’ chef de mission, Pieter van den Hoogenband, said that he had been surprised by the negative reaction.

“He has been active in international sport, the beach volleyball world, for some time. He has played World Cups, European Championships and World Cups, but then you see that things are different around the Games. That things are exaggerated.”

Surprised by the negative reaction, things are exaggerated. Really.

Surely it also brings his team and country into disrepute when seen to support such a sports person.

I suspect The Netherlands are actually proud of what they think are their wholesome and liberal attitudes to sex.

I am so sorry about what happened to your friend. That is beyond awful and I think allowing a rapist to change their name ought to be illegal.

I come from Ealing and remember the Ealing Vicarage Rape. Jill Saward, the victim was treated appallingly by the court and went on to spend her life compaigning for rape victims. I agree our system is broken. The Rotherham rape gangs show that. The Netherlands seems much, much worse - and it is often held up to us as an enlightened place.

That sentence was disgustingly low.

I would be very happy for sporting organizations have a policy where they will not select convicted sex offenders for national teams.

I do feel though there's a wider issue of what happens to people once they have served their sentence. Should they be allowed to continue with their previous careers if those careers do not involve contact with children or vulnerable people?

Goodness gracious, that is appalling.

After reading your post I decided to read more about the Vicarage rapes. I was quite young when they happened, still a child, but I knew of the case in my twenties.

I didn't know about the disgraceful sentences and that one of the burglars received more time for burglary than those that commited the rape did for that crime. Or the Judges disgusting comment.

Absolutely shocking. And then so many years later you have cases like this.

Rated/raped bloody autocorrect

@Grammarnut , one of the Vicarage Farm rapists was then allowed to change his name. He went on to groom a vulnerable friend of mine, married very quickly, got her pregnant. He rated her, beat her, threw her out in the snow whilst pregnant. She ultimately took her own life. Baby went into the system.
Our penal system has been broken for years.

This particular deviant is just showing other deviants that being a deviant is just fine and dandy.
Look at me now!
I am disgusted this was even a option for him 😡

This is awful, that poor child. This man is an evil predator. He has no right to represent his country at the Olympics, I'm disgusted he's out of prison. Athletes should be role models

Great. So if someone served their sentence, you'd be ok with working in close quarters with someone like that, not matter what they had done in the past??

She must've been fucking desperate.

Well quite, some of the skateboarders, for example, are very young.

The gaggle of journalists should also have a sousaphone. So everyone can hear him arriving.

If only for the safety of young female athletes.

Even the Dutch sporting acronym NOC-NSF is really easy to turn into Nonce on the hop and they can't ban the Dutch Olympic committees own branding.

Someone brave with a ticket to one of his matches should wear a t shirt with his name and child rapist on it, under a zip up top, and unveil it at a crucial moment. They'd get thrown out, but the media would pick up on it.