Dutch rapist of girl, 12, faces hurdle to compete in Paris
Dutch beach volleyball player and convicted rapist Steven Van de Velde faces one final hurdle before he will be bound for the Paris Olympics.
Dutch beach volleyball player and convicted rapist Steven Van de Velde faces one final hurdle before he will be bound for the Paris Olympics.
The highly controversial Dutchman, who served time in British and Dutch prisons for the rape of a 12-year-old British girl, has qualified for the Olympic Games. His selection by the Dutch volleyball association was this week ratified by the Dutch National Olympic Committee.
The Australian broke the story of Van de Velde’s Olympic selection and criminal history in a world exclusive last month.
Despite widespread condemnation and concern about the optics of a convicted rapist who remains on the British sex offenders register participating in the Games, the International Olympic Committee has refused to intervene.
Van de Velde and his volleyball partner Matthew Immers have been drawn in Pool B of the Olympic competition and will face teams from Norway, Italy and Chile.
The only procedure in the way of Van de Velde’s competing under the Eiffel Tower before tens of thousands of fans and millions across the world watching the international broadcast of the Paris Games is the French government.
Sources have indicated to The Weekend Australian the French Interior Ministry is preparing to closely scrutinise Van de Velde’s accreditation application, especially as previous criminal activities have to be declared.
A decision on Van de Velde’s accreditation is expected in the coming days.
Already the ministry has rejected 2700 applications of people seeking Games’ accreditation in
various roles within the Games security perimeter, such as cleaners, logistics staff and
hospitality. The government also has the right to reject any accreditation of anyone it deems a
security risk.
Complicating the issue is the French parliamentary elections, of which the final round is held on Sunday. Any likely change of government could see a review of any decision made under the Macron administration.
The Dutch Olympic Committee believes the French won’t intervene because of a deal
between the organising committee and the IOC to essentially rubber stamp their selections.
“We believe he is going to the Games and there is no problem,’’ a source close to Van de Velde told The Weekend Australian.
Under the accreditation terms and conditions of the Games, athletes enable the French
authorities to run background checks and also allow the transfer of their data from the Paris
Olympic organising committee to the IOC “to review the accreditation application for the purpose of granting or refusing accreditation”.
The qualification of Van de Velde has triggered debate around who should be allowed to be an Olympian and whether the IOC needs to clamp down on those who have committed heinous crimes like the rape of a child.
When asked about the Van De Velde situation this week, Australian Olympic Committee chief executive Matt Carroll cited the team’s strict policy when it came to those athletes that have found themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Swimmer Nick D’Arcy, who was convicted of common assault against his then teammate Simon Cowley, was banned from being part of Australia’s team to the Beijing Olympics.
Under the AOC rules, all athletes are required to reveal whether they have been involved in any integrity related issues before their place on the team is confirmed.
“There are very few Olympians in this country … it’s a privilege, it’s not a right,” Carroll told The Weekend Australian.
Under its on athlete eligibility, the AOC retains the right not to select anyone it considers may have breached regulations contained in its Ethical Behaviour By-Laws or other policies.
One of the Australia’s most decorated Olympians, swimmer Shane Gould, doesn’t believe an athlete with a past conviction such as rape should be allowed to compete at a Games.
She has read some of Van De Velde’s comments and was concerned about them.
“He does not admit that he used his power over a young girl, as we know rape is not sex; rape is rape,” Gould says. “He cannot equate his criminal act as a gradation of sexual predation … Primarily he can’t use his selection for Olympic representation as an atonement, as if his ‘Olympic dream’ will purify him of his criminal acts.”
“He should be saying; ‘I did a bad, wrong thing. This is my punishment for the rest of my life – and deny myself to not have the privileges of sport representation’.
“Where forgiveness and reparations come into play is another aspect that he has to deal with and we as observers need to see his character and remorse for his egregious actions.”
Van de Velde, in a statement on the Netherlands volleyball website this week, thanked his supporters and reflected on himself as an “insecure” teen who raped a 12-year-old.
“The second chance I got from my parents, my friends, acquaintances and colleagues, who accepted me again after the biggest misstep of my then young life,” he said.
“I am also grateful to the Dutch volleyball federation, because they offered me, with clear conditions and agreements, a future in this beautiful sport again.
“But I also think back to the teenager I was, who was insecure, not ready for a life as a top-class athlete and unhappy inside, because I didn’t know who I was and what I wanted.”
Gould, who won three Olympic gold medals, observed of those comments: “Most teenagers are how he described himself, but not every teenager consciously grooms a child from another country to deprive her liberty by rape.”
In court, it was detailed how in 2014 Van de Velde met his victim on Facebook and began chatting via Snapchat and Skype.
Aylesbury Crown Court was told Van de Velde travelled from the Netherlands to Milton Keynes, outside of London, in August 2014 to meet his victim.
He knew of her young age.
Van de Velde pleaded guilty to the three counts of rape against the child, who was named in court as Miss A.
The court heard he was aware of the girl’s age and went to her home when her mother was out and had sex with her, taking her virginity.
During the trial, it was reported Van de Velde wept as he heard his victim had since self-harmed and taken an overdose. Upon his release, Van de Velde defended his actions, saying he was “not a sex monster” for raping the girl.
Currently there is a change.org petition “Disqualify Convicted Child Rapist Steven Van De Velde from the Olympics” and it has more than 20,000 signatures.
Despite the growing public backlash, the Dutch volleyball federation (Nevobo) supports Van de Velde’s participation in Paris.
“We know Steven’s history,” says Michel Everaert, general director at Nevobo, said this week. “Before he expressed his desire to return to beach volleyball at the time, we spoke extensively with him but also with the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC*NSF) among others.
British charity Survivors Trust said Van de Velde’s inclusion showed the “shocking” toleration of child sexual abuse.
“The fact Van de Velde is allowed to continue his career after admitting ‘the biggest mistake of his life’ is further endorsement of the shocking toleration we have of child sexual abuse,” the Survivors Trust said in a statement.
“The rape of a child was planned, calculated involving international travel and will undoubtedly cause his victim lifelong trauma, irreversibly changing the course of her life.
“As a society, we have to start embracing a zero tolerance approach to this heinous and costly crime.
“His lack of remorse and empathy for his victim is chilling and the allowance of his colleagues and the Olympic committee to promote him to a young audience as a sports person to look up to and therefore by implication is deeply disturbing.”
Ciara Bergman, CEO of Rape Crisis England & Wales, told the British radio station LBC that offenders’ with high-profile careers can often be a free pass for rapists to keep their status in society.
“Movements such as #MeToo have consistently highlighted the prevalence and impact of rape and sexual abuse, and yet, time and time again, convicted rapists who also happen to have high-profile careers in the worlds of sports, politics and celebrity are allowed to resume their careers having committed appalling acts of sexual violence and abuse,” Bergman said. “Often with their status and career prospects framed as somehow mitigating their crimes.”
In Van De Velde’s home country, there has been outrage.
Commenting on a story about his qualification in the De Telegraaf newspaper, some of the Dutch public are enraged: “Let’s say that the Netherlands wins a medal. Because of him it will be tainted forever. Terrible decision,” one commenter said. Another read: “Dutch morals in the bin, shame on you”.
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