Steven van de Velde said he’d asked himself if taking part in the tournament was “worth it.”
In 2014, a then-19-year-old Van de Velde traveled to Britain to meet a 12-year-old girl he’d met on Facebook, fully aware of her age. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to raping the schoolgirl and was sentenced to four years in prison. Van de Velde served 12 months behind bars in Britain before being transferred to the Netherlands where he was released a month later.
Having him banned from traveling outside of the Netherlands, the country that gave him a one-year prison sentence for raping a 12yo old Is what I want.
He served his year in England where he committed the crime and was sentenced to eight. The Netherlands got him extradited and then released him in less than a month. Everyone involved in their Olympic committee that allowed him to represent their country should be fired.
Through tears, he mentioned a British tabloid article which included a picture of his wife. “That’s when I broke down,” Van de Velde said. “I did something wrong, ten years ago. I have to accept that. But hurting people around me—whether it’s [teammate Matthew Immers], my wife, my child... that just goes too far for me.
He didn't care about the kid he raped, or her family and friends and how he ruined her life. He only cared when a newspaper showed a picture of his wife. :/
Michel Everaert, the general director of the Dutch Volleyball Association (Nevobo), also claimed Tuesday that the booing Van de Velde faced had been instigated by British newspapers. “It’s just organized,” Everaert said when asked about how the booing increased during the Games, according to the Brabants Dagblad newspaper. “They stirred up the whole story, those English tabloids.
.... Is the Dutch government unfamiliar with Olympics coverage? Every Olympics, the athletes' histories get examined and shared with the public. Did they somehow expect that this would not be covered by the press?
Jbfc, what a deluded and selfish POS. I hope more bad things happen to him. Hopefully, someone gives him a hard privilege check and he realizes this isn’t about him. Then maybe he can truly be sorry without people shitting on him.
Or you know, not have sex with 12 year old girls. That usually does the trick.
Fuck this asshole. I don't think his life should be over, but he shouldn't be representing his country anywhere. Shame on the Netherlands too for sending this rapist to the Olympics.
No sympathy for the child rapist here, but his wife is innocent for all we know, no need to drag her into this.
Also, technically being a pedophile does not mean you are turned on by your own child, in the same way that being turned on by 20 year old women does not mean you are turned on by your own 20 year old daughter. Not defending the choice of having a child with a child rapist, just pointing out that incest and pedophilia are different crimes, and that there's nothing gained by conflating them.
Child rape is bad enough on its own, but this dude is an athlete, he looks pretty good. He definitely had options among girls his own age. He still chose to rape a 12 year old. That means he wasn't just willing to do it out of desperation, he actively WANTED to do it.