Steven van de Velde: Dutch beach volleyball player sentenced to prison for child rape – qualifies for the Olympic Games in Paris

CNN
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A Dutch beach volleyball player who was imprisoned ten years ago for raping a child will represent the Netherlands at this year’s Olympic Games.

Steven van de Velde, now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2014 for raping the then 12-year-old girl, according to British media reports. He was released in 2017.

Now he has been selected to represent the Netherlands in beach volleyball at the Olympic Games in Paris this summer.

“We know Steven’s story,” Michel Everaert, general director of Nevobo, the Dutch volleyball association, said in a statement.

Everaert said the federation had spoken extensively with the Dutch National Olympic Committee (NOC), the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) and van de Velde before returning to the sport.

“He was convicted under English law at the time and has served his sentence. Since then, we have been in constant contact with Steven, who has now fully reintegrated into the Dutch volleyball community,” Everaert added in the statement.

Van de Velde served part of his sentence in England before being transferred to the Netherlands, where he was released and returned to professional sport in 2017, Nevobo said.

In 2018, van de Velde told national broadcaster NOS: “I did what I did. I can’t take it back, so I will have to face the consequences. You can of course judge. It is the biggest mistake of my life.”

“He is proving to be an exemplary professional and human being and there has been no reason to doubt him since his return,” added Everaert.

The association noted that van de Velde was aware that this “dark period in his life” would resurface, “but is obviously not happy about it.”

In the statement released by Nevobo, van de Velde said he was grateful for the opportunity.

“I understand that this may attract international media attention ahead of the biggest sporting event in the world,” added van de Velde.

“Because of the second chance I was given by my parents, my friends, acquaintances and colleagues, who took me back in after the biggest mistake of my then young life,” he said.

“I am also grateful to the Dutch Volleyball Association because they offered me a future in this beautiful sport again with clear conditions and agreements. But I also think back to the teenager I was, who was insecure, not ready for a life as a top athlete and unhappy inside because I didn’t know who I was and what I wanted.”

Nevobo and the Dutch NOC said in a statement that they supported van de Velde, adding that they had consulted with the FIVB with experts who assessed his risk of reoffending as “zero”.

“After his conviction and sentence, Steven van de Velde returned step by step to elite sport under the expert guidance of probation officers and coaches. Since 2017 he has been participating in international tournaments again,” Nevobo said in a statement.

The Dutch NOC added that van de Velde’s return to professional sport was based on its guidelines, “which, among other things, set out the conditions under which athletes in elite sport can return after a conviction.”

“Van de Velde now meets all qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team,” the committee added.

The International Olympic Committee told CNN that “the nomination of individual team members after qualification on the field of play is the sole responsibility of the respective National Olympic Committee. We therefore turn to the Dutch NOC for further information.”