Volleyball player imprisoned for raping a 12-year-old girl qualifies for the Olympic Games in Paris

Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who raped a 12-year-old British girl, is running to represent the Netherlands at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

Van de Velde, now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in March 2016 after admitting three counts of rape of a child he met on Facebook. The sportsman had travelled to the UK to meet the girl in August 2014, when he was 19.

He travelled from Amsterdam to Milton Keynes to have sex with a girl he knew to be just 12 years old. Van de Velde arranged a visit to the victim’s home while her mother was out and then deflowered her.

“Your actions have destroyed your life and had you never come to England and committed these offences, you could have been a leader in your sport,” said Judge Francis Sheridan. “A young, naive, stupid child had the idea that you loved her. In reality, you only knew her from the internet, had never met her before and were fully aware of the age difference.”

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At the time, Judge Francis Sheridan told Van de Velde that his dream had been shattered. “Before you came to this country, you trained as a potential Olympian. Your hopes of representing your country are now a shattered dream,” said Judge Francis Sheridan.

After his release, Van de Velde said: “I want to correct all the nonsense that was written about me when I was incarcerated. I deliberately did not read any of it, but I understand that it was pretty bad that I was branded a sex monster, a paedophile.”

But less than a decade later, after spending just 12 months in a Dutch prison, Van de Velde has revived his Olympic dream. It is Van de Velde’s turn to form a national pair with Matthew Immers at the Paris Games. The International Olympic Committee is unlikely to intervene, with sole responsibility resting with the national Olympic Committee.

Van de Velde, now married and father of a two-year-old child, said on Wednesday: “I understand that this could attract international media attention in the run-up to the biggest sporting event in the world.”

According to The Australian, Van de Velde has undergone “an intensive, professionally supervised period” of assessments and deliberations since 2018, the NOC argued. The Dutch Volleyball Association has yet to confirm its final selection of athletes. The Mirror Sport US has contacted the NOC for comment.