The Dutch Volleyball Affiliation and Dutch Olympic organizers are standing by their determination to ship a person convicted of rape to the Paris Olympics this summer time to symbolize the Netherlands in seaside volleyball.
In 2014, the person, Steven van de Velde, now 29, traveled to England, the place he raped a 12-year-old lady whom he had met on Fb. A British courtroom sentenced him in 2016 to 4 years in jail. After a 12 months, he was transferred to the Netherlands, the place his sentence was adjusted based mostly on Dutch regulation. In whole, Mr. van de Velde spent simply over a 12 months in jail.
Afterward, he acquired skilled counseling, the volleyball affiliation stated.
The Dutch Olympic Committee and the Dutch Volleyball Affiliation are permitting Mr. van de Velde to compete based mostly on the recommendation of specialists who they are saying have deemed the prospect of a repeat offense very low, based on the affiliation’s web site. Mr. van de Velde resumed his seaside volleyball profession in 2017.
Whereas worldwide information media coated his Olympic participation with a way of concern, the story didn’t acquire a lot traction within the Netherlands. Dutch information retailers largely reported on worldwide media and the way they coated the case.
“Notably overseas, there was cause to rekindle the previous of the 29-year-old seaside volleyball participant,” the volleyball affiliation wrote in a press release on its web site.
Sara Alaoui, the founder and director of the Protected House Membership, a nonprofit group that works with victims of sexual abuse, stated she was shocked on the lack of consideration on this story in contrast with different, much less consequential, sports activities information. (For instance, Dutch information media coated the soccer participant Memphis Depay wearing a headband throughout a current match.)
Mr. van de Velde has admitted to the crime and instructed Dutch information media that it was the worst mistake of his life.
“It’s an enormous mistake, no one would deny that. I can’t do something about that anymore,” Mr. van de Velde stated in 2018 in an interview with the Dutch broadcaster NOS. “I can not reverse it, so I must bear the results.”
Ms. Alaoui stated that she was dissatisfied in what she known as an absence of regret and introspection by Mr. van de Velde. It sends the message that “if you’re a white Adonis, you’ve got much less to reply for,” she stated.
“If you happen to’re actually sorry and that is the most important mistake of your life, than it’s important to present why you deserve a second probability,” Ms. Alaoui stated. A technique would have been to work with organizations that battle towards sexual abuse, she stated.
“I don’t perceive that that is how we deal with this in post-MeToo the Netherlands,” she stated. “We’re speaking about little one abuse right here.”
Olympic organizers had been conscious of Mr. van de Velde’s historical past and stated of their assertion that they’d spent loads of time speaking to him.
“When van de Velde appears within the mirror now, he sees a mature and completely satisfied man, married and the daddy of a stupendous son,” the Dutch Volleyball Affiliation, known as Nevobo in Dutch, wrote on its web site.
Michel Everaert, the volleyball affiliation’s basic director, stated in a press release, “He’s proving to be an exemplary skilled and human being and there was no cause to doubt him since his return.”
Mr. van de Velde shouldn’t be the primary Olympian to have been convicted of a criminal offense. Most notoriously, Tonya Harding certified for america determine skating crew within the 1994 Winter Olympics and was suspected of involvement in an assault on a rival, Nancy Kerrigan. Ms. Harding was allowed to compete, awkwardly on the identical crew as Ms. Kerrigan, and positioned eighth. She later pleaded responsible to hindering the prosecution and was fined and sentenced to probation and group service.
Bruce Kimball was a silver medalist in diving in 1984 and hoped to return to the U.S. Olympic crew in 1988. Two weeks earlier than the Olympic trials, he hit a gaggle of youngsters whereas driving drunk, killing two of them. Moms In opposition to Drunk Driving and associates of the victims objected to his participation within the trials, however he was allowed to compete. He completed fourth and sixth in his two occasions, failing to make the crew, and finally served 4 years in jail.
Victor Mather contributed reporting
