A senior official with the Dutch Olympic committee has insisted that a convicted child rapist in its beach volleyball team is not a paedophile, in an email seen by the Guardian.
A concerned British man who has lived in the Netherlands for more than a decade, wrote to the Dutch Olympic committee and called the inclusion of Steven van de Velde in the team “a stain on the Dutch national side”. In a reply the Dutch Olympic committee spokesperson wrote: “Steven is NOT a peadophile [sic]; you really don’t think that de Dutch NOC would send someone to Paris who IS a real risk? No, he isn’t a risk.”
There has been mounting public anger at the presence of the beach volleyball player Van de Velde, who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016. Earlier this week the International Olympic Committee faced calls for an investigation into how a convicted child rapist has been allowed to compete at Paris 2024. The IOC has said the selection of athletes for the Games was the responsibility of individual committees.
There has been mounting public anger at the presence of the beach volleyball player Van de Velde, who was convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl in 2016. Earlier this week the International Olympic Committee faced calls for an investigation into how a convicted child rapist has been allowed to compete at Paris 2024. The IOC has said the selection of athletes for the Games was the responsibility of individual committees.
That girl would be 20 by now. Probably out trying to study or looking for a job, and has to see his face broadcast on the largest stage in the world…
Meanwhile a female equestrian was banned for hitting a horse.
Maybe she should’ve fucked it, that would be fine it seems? 🤣
People like you do not understand how to compare stuff.
cruelty to animals have no place in 21st century and she should have been banned - for her, that is her punishment.
for him, some would argue that he already went through his punishment. he is probably still piece of shit, i don’t know the details of the case.
Let’s not compare that, I’m happy she was banned. I know you don’t want to say it was ok, but the comparison could be used to pardon her behaviour.
I mean different countries different people making the decision.
I suspect if it was a man hitting the horse, it would have been brushed away as “part of the sport”.
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Steven van de Velde is a nonce
Can you explain the word “nonce” for me, please?
It’s British slang for a pedophile that stands for “Not on normal courtyard exercise”. Meaning if they are in prison, they are not sent to exercise with the others as they are at high risk of being beat up.
Not on normal courtyard/community exercise
That’s almost certainly a backronym. There aren’t enough records of its use to say for certain, but nonce probably shares an etymology with “nancy” as in nancy boy, or possibly with “ponce” as in perfumed ponce.
Nonce - a person who commits a crime involving sex, especially sex with a child.
To use it in a sentence - Steven Van de Velde is a nonce.
On one hand, the Olympic Games are a sporting event and past criminal convictions should not automatically disqualify someone from competing
But on the other hand, he raped a twelve year old girl. That’s irredeemable.
I know there are laws where you can’t travel to certain countries with criminal convictions. Like if you have a DUI you can’t go to Canada. Surely a child rape conviction should keep you out of France.
Yea you can’t easily keep convicted EU citizens out of another EU country.
Gotta take the good with the bad I guess?
Yea that’s for sure, they are slowly improving on that on many fronts though. Going back to the original border situation is not really an option anyway.
Tell that to Roman Polanski.
This is getting an unnecessary amount of attention. I won’t defend his actions, but he was punished for it. You know how many ex-convicts participate in society every day? Heaps of them.
13 months for repeated raping a 12 year old whom he was in contact with for months and knew her age. Yea, definitely did his time for this one. Did you know the victim self harms now? Meanwhile your boy Steven Van de Velde is going to the Olympics. Seems legit.
You won’t defend his actions, but you’ll defend his extremely short (and not fully served) prison sentence as being enough. You’re gross. A convicted child rapist shouldn’t be allowed at the Olympics - it’s supposed to be an honour.
Yeah. It totally depends on their behaviour after their sentence, and their attitude towards their crime. Since this person did not reoffend for about nine years, I would think he has improved. And he apparently was deemed safe for society upon release, otherwise he would not have been released early, and possibly not been released at all.
You know how many rapists keep raping after their paltry sentence? Heaps of them.
- She was 12
- He flew from his home in the Netherlands to England (~209miles) to meet this girl
- She was 12, he was 19
- He raped her
- He plead guilty (not found guilty)
- She was 12
- Sentenced to four years in prison
- Only served 1 year, 1 month
No, he in fact was not punished for it. He still owes society 2 years, 11 months.
Conflating the raping of a 12-year-old girl that he admitted to raping with other felons is insulting to the other felons.
No, he in fact was not punished for it. He still owes society 2 years, 11 months.
This is not how the justice system works in progressive countries. It’s not the goal to lock people up. One of the main goals is to avoid reoffending behaviour. And this is not avoided by locking people up as long as possible.
What also likely played a role in his shortened sentence is the fact that he was so young. At 19, people change really fast. So the judge and the psychiatrist may have believed him that he understood his lesson after 1 year and 1 month.
I’m sure the now 22-year-old that he admitted to raping 10 years ago feels relief knowing he’s learned his lesson and gets to back to being a superstar because he was just a kid who grew out of his phase of raping 12-year-olds.
I do agree with you that most people can learn from their mistakes, and should be given multiple chances for redemption. But I draw the line at rape, especially of children; it’s personal. I will respect your opinion, despite not agreeing with it, if you will respect mine, while not agreeing with it. 😊
Okay but if I draw the line at all crime? Why should I get to draw that line over you? That’s why we just have to treat all criminals as rehabilitatable because the task of democratically drawing that line and being able to trace the required nuance is literally fucking impossible.
There’s the paradox. Your argument itself is drawing a line that excludes mine. So what do we do? Well, like you said, we be democratic about it. Get out and vote for the people and policies that best aligns with our values. We have civil discussions like this that challenges each other to think of the other side. Maybe we get upset once in a while. Maybe we change our minds (maybe we don’t). It’s not perfect, but it’s better than nothing.
13 months in jail for getting a 12 year old drunk and raping her repeatedly doesn’t sound like proper punishment… Specially not when he has shown no remorse for his actions
After his release in 2017, van de Velde complained about “all the nonsense” reporting on his crime in the media, claiming that the term pedophile did not apply to him, without expanding further. At the same time he stated not yet having read any of the reporting he was criticizing. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) condemned his comments at the time, stating that his “lack of remorse and self-pity is breathtaking”.
There’s lots of things in society you are excluded from doing, when being a convicted criminal. Even more when it’s a “rape of a child” conviction.
One the things you should be excluded from is the olympics.
But when you give fame and wealth to known child rapists like van de Velde, trump, or others who regularly appears in epstein’s flight logs, they can use that fame and wealth to attract more victims and cover up their actions.
There’s a difference between having a livelihood and being granted access to the power that nationwide recognition gives you.
Well, if they won’t send him home, we should all just start calling the team “the Dutch Rapists”.
Maybe if enough people do it, they might find a conscience?
Considering beach volleyball is 2v2, and the ONLY person in that team who has ZERO say in this is his unfortunate partner who would be the only other person in the limelight sharing that title, how about no?
how about no?
I would rather not go to the Olympics than to pair up with a convicted child rapist
And if this partner had some moral fiber, maybe that would have been enough to get the completely spineless committee to find another volleyball player that, through some luck or maybe witchcraft, happened to not to get a 12 year old drunk in order to rape her repeatedly
How about yes, maybe the poor team mate would then step down to not share the limelight with a child rapist (since lets face it they are already going to be bearing that). In any case if 50% of your team are convicted rapists then I think it is fair that the team is called “The Dutch Rapists” I mean we call stuff with 30% animal in it “meat”
I guess we will have to agree to disagree on this one.
Well if the officials say it, then it must be true
"you really don’t think that de Dutch NOC would send someone to Paris who IS a real risk? No, he isn’t a risk.”
Given how often powerful groups cover up and protect pedos in their ranks, yeah I do think they would send someone who’s a risk. It’s not surprising, just disappointing
They’re saying rapists aren’t a real risk, only pedophiles, that’s disturbing to me.
Great point!
Indeed, you are right and I should be this precise as well. There are paedophiles actively working with therapists and other professionals to handle their nature, which is to be applauded.
Rapists, on the other hand, have actually acted, independent of their nature. So this Steven van de Velde is a convicted child rapist and that’s bad enough. Whether he is a paedophile or not is not really a thing feom here on.So, NOC: STEVEN VAN DE VELDE IS A CONVICTED CHILD RAPIST - AND IT WAS INTENTIONAL. He should NOT be on a sports team AT ALL.
Alongside the rest of the comments…imagine being an elite-level volleyball player, being told that you’re going to represent your country, and then being asked to partner up with a nonce.
The whole situation aside… what is up with the email skills of the Dutch Olympic Committee? This email is legit worded like a text message or a Lemmy comment
"Steven is NOT a peadophile; you really don’t think that de Dutch NOC would send someone to Paris who IS a real risk? No, he isn’t a risk.”
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Anime logic.
“She was a 400 year old magic dragon”
You think this is funny?
he uses instagram reels he is attracted to the twin towers falling.
How dare you accuse me of using Instagram.
No, I’m mocking the official who thinks there’s some basis for being attracted to children without being a paedophile.
Please explain why he raped a CHILD if he’s not a pedophile then
I have enough reasons not to touch youtube unless I absolutely have to. I don’t see that reason here.
Don’t know if this is the case here, but the word pedophile refers to someone who is sexually attracted to children, and rapists don’t necessarily have to be attracted to their victims. There can be other motivations at play. So yeah, it’s possible that someone raping a child is not actually a pedophile. Doesn’t make it any less disgusting of course, and I have no clue why anyone thought “but he’s not a pedo” would be a reasonable argument here
Okay, WHEW. I was getting worried that NL was going to let a pedophile rapist represent their country but it turns out they are merely letting a rapist of 12 year olds represent their country which, as we all know, is way better.
Don’t worry, as they say he is “not a risk”. I mean i was not thinking of an Olympic athlete raping children at the olympics before that statement.
