Dutch volleyball player Steven van de Velde, convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl, qualifies for the Olympic Games in Paris | News about the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris

NEW DELHI: In a controversial turn of events, Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl, has qualified for the upcoming Paris Olympics, a development that has sparked heated debate given his past and the gravity of his crime.

Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in March 2016 after pleading guilty to three counts of rape of a child he met on Facebook. At the time of the crime in August 2014, Van de Velde was 19 years old and travelled from the Netherlands to the UK to meet the victim. During his trial, Judge Francis Sheridan noted that Van de Velde’s hopes of representing his country at the Olympics had been “shattered”.

Judge Francis Sheridan told him: “Before you came to this country, you trained as a potential Olympian. Your hopes of representing your country are now a shattered dream.”

Despite this, Van de Velde was released after just 12 months in a Dutch prison and has since been working to revive his Olympic career. He has now secured a place on the national beach volleyball team for the Paris Games, where he will play alongside Matthew Immers. The pair are currently ranked 11th in the world.

This situation presents the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with a significant ethical dilemma, as all Olympians must sign a declaration on the rights and responsibilities of athletes, in which they also commit to acting as role models.

At the verdict at Aylesbury Crown Court, Van de Velde’s defence lawyer Linda Strudwick described the case as the end of the athlete’s career and stressed that he had been portrayed in the media as a “sex monster”.

However, Van de Velde, now 29, has managed to rebuild his career. His qualification for the Olympics has raised questions about the rehabilitation and rehabilitation of athletes convicted of serious crimes.

Van de Velde’s crime involved travelling from Amsterdam to Milton Keynes to perform sexual acts with a 12-year-old girl he met online. The court heard he had communicated with the victim on social media before arranging the visit and raped her while her mother was away.

Judge Sheridan condemned Van de Velde’s actions, saying: “Your actions have destroyed your life and you could, if you had never come to England and committed these offences, have been a leader in your sport. 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.”

After his release in 2017, Van de Velde expressed a desire to correct the “nonsense” that was written about him during his imprisonment, assuring that he was neither a “sex monster” nor a “paedophile”. He stated: “I want to correct all the nonsense that was written about me during my imprisonment. I deliberately did not read any of it, but I understand that it was quite harsh and branded me as a sex monster, as a paedophile. I am not that, really not.”

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion about me, but it’s only fair that they hear my side of the story too.”

The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) has expressed outrage at Van de Velde’s lack of remorse and self-pity, and highlighted the long-term effects grooming has on the victim.

The Dutch Olympic Committee and the country’s volleyball association have not yet commented publicly on Van de Velde’s situation. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also been asked for a statement on his controversial inclusion in the Olympic list.