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”……..

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

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!

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.

Fucking gross.

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....

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.

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.

Well done. Sounds good.

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.

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.

@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.

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

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.

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

of which he only served 1

It could be worse. There was a (really really unpleasant) gang rape of a 14 year old in a park in Berlin. (I won't go into details but it included multiple groups of men assaulting her over the course of a night, men sharing videos and the locations to group chats so more men could come and assault her). Of the 9 men convicted (on DNA evidence!), 8 were not given any prison sentence at all. And that's despite them being disrespectful in court/falling asleep etc. However, this case generated outrage and the contact details of some of the men were shared. A woman contacted one of the men describing him as "disgusting" and a "miscarriage". SHE got sent to jail for being offensive to him.

Anyone who says that being accused of rape ends a mans career/life or that we take rape seriously as a continent is talking out of their arse.

So we should be grateful he went to prison at all.

No words @biscuitandcake

But no surprises either.

Yet another reminder of just how important women are and how important men are.

I did this too. Thank you for the address.

That is one of the most awful things O have ever heard.

I have a feeling Germany pretty much condones rape too.

Excellent point about safeguarding. This is a convicted nonce.

He is a convicted sex offender who should not be around children at all. There are children who compete at the Olympics. He should not be allowed to compete.

Also emailed

That's going to be a very busy inbox

I tried to find the article in English but the problem is, if you google "gang rape, park, Germany" you get too many different stories to be able to find the right one. There is an additional angle to that story, which is that unfortunately the rapists were "not German born" and therefore I think there was a worry it would become a "far right talking point." So the far right are the only ones talking about it. The problem for me is that the far right are blaming these incidents on the "foreign" values of the men committing the rape - when its really clear on some level the German authorities share those values. So you have (some, not all) immigrants coming into a country with the idea that underage German girls are worthless/are there to be abused/rape isn't a big deal. And the response from Germans is "yes, German girls ARE worthless and absolutely can be abused. Rape isn't a big deal. What's more, we will arrest anyone who is mean to you about this". Its not a failure to integrate into German cultural values - they may be scum but they seem to have picked up the "values" of the German lawmakers fairly quickly.
I don't want to see a rise of the far right in Germany. But if I DID want to see it, I would be doing exactly what German policy makers have done for the past decade.

Also - Germany is a country which has brothels where you can, perfectly legally, pay for "all orifices" deals etc and the women can't refuse. This is very liberal, and very tolerant and progressive. And you can even get a free burger. Yay.

No evidence the woman convicted was far right by the way. At first I thought she had something racist or threatening to the man or had referred to his background as an immigrant. Nope. She even apologised for her language. Still went to prison.

Why is France allowing this? Why isn’t team GB protesting? I am so angry about this.