The Dutch Volleyball Affiliation and Dutch Olympic organizers are standing by their resolution to ship a person convicted of rape to the Paris Olympics this summer time to characterize the Netherlands in seashore volleyball.
In 2014, the person, Steven van de Velde, now 29, traveled to England, the place he raped a 12-year-old woman whom he had met on Fb. A British court docket 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 primarily based on Dutch legislation. In whole, Mr. van de Velde spent simply over a 12 months in jail.
Afterward, he acquired skilled counseling, the volleyball affiliation mentioned.
The Dutch Olympic Committee and the Dutch Volleyball Affiliation are permitting Mr. van de Velde to compete primarily based on the recommendation of specialists who they are saying have deemed the possibility of a repeat offense very low, in accordance with the affiliation’s web site. Mr. van de Velde resumed his seashore volleyball profession in 2017.
Whereas worldwide information media coated his Olympic participation with a way of shock, 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.
“Significantly overseas, there was cause to rekindle the previous of the 29-year-old seashore volleyball participant,” the volleyball affiliation wrote in a press release on its web site.
Sara Alaoui, the founder and director of the Protected Area Membership, a nonprofit group that works with victims of sexual abuse, mentioned 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 latest 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 mentioned in 2018 in an interview with the Dutch broadcaster NOS. “I can’t reverse it, so I must bear the results.”
Ms. Alaoui mentioned that she was disenchanted in what she referred to as a scarcity of regret and introspection by Mr. van de Velde. It sends the message that “in case you are a white Adonis, you have got much less to reply for,” she mentioned.
“When you’re actually sorry and that is the largest mistake of your life, than it’s important to present why you deserve a second likelihood,” Ms. Alaoui mentioned. A technique would have been to work with organizations that struggle towards sexual abuse, she mentioned.
“I don’t perceive that that is how we deal with this in post-MeToo the Netherlands,” she mentioned. “We’re speaking about little one abuse right here.”
Olympic organizers had been conscious of Mr. van de Velde’s historical past and mentioned of their assertion that that they had spent lots of time speaking to him.
“When van de Velde appears to be like within the mirror now, he sees a mature and completely happy man, married and the daddy of a phenomenal son,” the Dutch Volleyball Affiliation, referred to as Nevobo in Dutch, wrote on its web site.
Michel Everaert, the volleyball affiliation’s common director, mentioned 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 just isn’t the primary Olympian to have been convicted of against the law. Most notoriously, Tonya Harding certified for america determine skating staff 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 staff as Ms. Kerrigan, and positioned eighth. She later pleaded responsible to hindering the prosecution and was fined and sentenced to probation and neighborhood service.
Bruce Kimball was a silver medalist in diving in 1984 and hoped to return to the U.S. Olympic staff in 1988. Two weeks earlier than the Olympic trials, he hit a gaggle of youngsters whereas driving drunk, killing two of them. Moms Towards Drunk Driving and mates 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 staff, and ultimately served 4 years in jail.
Victor Mather contributed reporting