Dutch volleyball player jailed for raping 12-year-old girl to compete in Olympics, sends…

29 June 2024, 08:45

A charity that supports rape victims said the decision to allow a convicted child abuser to compete in the upcoming Olympics sends a “damaging message”.

Dutch volleyball player Steven Van de Velde was jailed in 2016 after raping a 12-year-old British schoolgirl.

Van de Velde, who was 19 at the time of the attack, travelled from Amsterdam to the UK to meet the girl, whom he had met online.

The girl was raped in a flat in Milton Keynes. Van de Velde advised her to take the morning-after pill because they had not used contraception.

It was her visit to a family planning clinic that alerted the authorities, who intervened because of the girl’s age.

Van de Velde returned to the Netherlands, but was extradited and arrested in January 2016.

The following month he appeared via video link at Aylesbury Crown Court and was sentenced to four years in prison.

However, the athlete was allowed to return to the Netherlands to serve his sentence and was released after one year.

“Fundamental failure”

Reacting to the decision, Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, said: “Allowing convicted rapists to serve a sentence or undergo psychotherapy and then return to the profession of their choice shows a fundamental failure to put survivors at the centre of our societal response to rape.”

“Sexual violence and abuse have devastating effects. Survivors must live with and find ways to cope with a wide range of (typically) lifelong effects, including trauma, flashbacks, poor physical and mental health, and lack of access to timely or appropriate justice.

“In fact, many of them spend longer on the waiting lists at rape crisis centers than the perpetrators will ever spend in prison, even if they are convicted – which is rare.”

“Movements such as #MeToo have repeatedly highlighted the prevalence and impact of rape and sexual abuse, and yet convicted rapists who also happen to have careers in the world of sport, politics or celebrity are repeatedly allowed to continue their careers after committing horrific acts of sexual violence and abuse – often on the grounds that their status and career prospects somehow mitigate their crimes.

“Rape is a crime against individuals and at the same time an insult to our culture and society in general.

“Allowing someone convicted of rape to compete in public again and receive all the praise and attention that comes with it sends a damaging message to all of us – that competing in sport is more important than raping a child and that as long as a perpetrator of sexual violence has ‘overcome’ their behavior, the victim and the rest of us can or should too.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) stated that the nomination of individual team members was “the sole responsibility of the respective National Olympic Committee”.

After van de Velde’s early release in 2017, he said: “I want to correct all the nonsense that was written about me when I was incarcerated.”

“I didn’t read it on purpose, but I understand that it was pretty bad that I was branded a sex monster, a pedophile. I’m not that, really not.”

“Everyone can have their opinion about me, but it’s only fair that they also know my side of the story.”

In its response, the NSPCC said: “Van de Velde’s lack of remorse and self-pity are staggering and we can only begin to imagine the distress his victim must feel when she sees his comments.”

“Grooming can make children feel ashamed or even guilty because they believe they have participated voluntarily, when in reality an adult has abused them for sexual exploitation.”

Van de Velde recently teamed up with Matthew Immers as a new partner to form the second-place Dutch team for the Olympic Games.

They secured their country one of the two starting places in the men’s event at Paris 2024 and are ranked 11th in the overall rankings ahead of the Games.

A petition to disqualify Van de Velde from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris has already collected over 1,000 signatures.