Volleyball player convicted of raping 12-year-old representing Netherlands at Olympics
Volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who was convicted in 2016 of raping a 12-year-old girl multiple times, will represent the Netherlands at the Olympic Games in Paris. According to the Dutch Olympic committee and sports federation NOC*NSF, the 29-year-old man has met “all qualification criteria for the Olympic Games.”
A British court sentenced Van de Velde to four years in prison in 2016 for three counts of raping a child in August 2014. The man, then around 19 years old, met the 12-year-old British girl on Facebook and arranged a meetup in the United Kingdom, where he raped her multiple times, BBC reports. He was allowed to serve his sentence in the Netherlands and was released after 12 months in prison.
NOC*NSF told the British broadcaster that, after his release, Van de Velde received professional counseling and demonstrated “self-insight and reflection.” His return to sport met the Dutch Volleyball Federation’s integrity guidelines, and he has met “all qualification criteria for the Olympic Games,” the NOC*NSF said.
Van de Velde has qualified for the Olympics with his partner, Matthew Immers.
Strangely, Dutch national media have not given this story much attention, but international outlets, including the BBC, The Daily Mail, CNN, and The New York Times, have covered it extensively.
