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

[NonCrimeHakeIncident]

https://uk.yahoo.com/sports/news/dutch-volleyball-player-raped-12-193257270.html

His lawyer at the time said “It’s plainly a career end for him”……..

biscuitandcake · 22/07/2024 19:32

My personal opinion is we should have agreed to send Van De Velde (and others like him) back to the Netherlands but made him swim tied to a large millstone.

I'm not a religious person, but sometimes, going Biblical does seem appropriate:

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/search=Matthew%2018%3A6&version=KJV

"But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea."

Except he did not serve his sentence.

"Under a treaty between the Netherlands and UK, Van de Velde was transferred to the Netherlands to serve his sentence. The sentence was at that time adjusted in line with Dutch law, and the charge of rape was substituted for that of fornication.[10] After serving a year of his original four year sentence, he was released from prison. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) condemned his comments at the time, stating that his "lack of remorse and self-pity is breathtaking"

Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_van_de_Velde

Agree. EU law is not concerned in local paedophilia laws (i.e. not in its 'competence') - the EU is not some utopia where women have all the rights you would like, it depends on the country and the local agenda - and the Netherlands' view on prostitution and 'consenting adults' fits exactly with having no laws on online grooming and little worry about paedophilia - i.e. they are sex-positive. A society that believes prostitution and pornography harm no-one is just as likely (very likely) to dismiss child-rape, where the child has been groomed so appears to consent, as fine, not a huge crime at all, because, look, they enjoyed it and they 'consented'. This is the logical outcome of sex-positivity ideas, grounded in queer theory.

It does seem odd that GB can manage to not take a woman who hit a horse (and rightly so) and the Dutch are happy to take a child rapist.

And they have the greatest use of child sexual abuse pornography in Europe.

I agree - her behaviour was abhorrent - but it is ironic that the lawyer who raised the complaint on behalf of a client, is Dutch and based in the Netherlands.

Indeed.

It's a bit like a mirror image of that "man or bear" thing... Nobody thinks the horse asked for it, but sadly it seems an awful lot of people think the child did.

I did not know that. Appalling. A boycott against this man would be welcome - sadly, I doubt it will happen.

Apparently he's also being protected by not doing any media. I think he should be pursued around town by a gaggle of loud journalists.

I think he should be forced to do the standard media interviews, so that he can be asked about this constantly, and be referred to as a sex offender to his face and in front of the other players etc.

Exactly.

There was an article in the DM, behind their paywall. A journalist tried to speak him while the Dutch team were en route with a gaggle of bodyguards. He just stonewalled him.

Really have to wonder why you'd send someone like this with this history to represent your country.

It's not exactly an honour they have earned, and they are going to drag the Dutch team and the country itself through a lot of dirty linen and negative publicity instead of being a focus of pride and celebration.

Bit of a thick decision really.

I haven't read the thread. The title was horrifying enough.

I feel exhausted.

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.

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.

If only for the safety of young female athletes.

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.

She must've been fucking desperate.

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??

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

@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 😡

Rated/raped bloody autocorrect

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.

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?