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.

  • slingstone@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    If there’s a reason why he’s “not a pedophile” as they claim, let’s hear their reasoning. Miscarriages of justice do occur, but there’s no outcry that this dude got a raw deal. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, I’ll trust the verdict of the court, indicating that Steve van de Velde is a pedophile.

    • palordrolap@kbin.run
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      5 months ago

      Be prepared for the “ephebophile” argument, which, if Wikipedia is to be believed anyway, is actually for ages 15-19, but it won’t stop those who have twisted their minds into a knot to explain this away.

      Or the “if there’s grass on the field, play ball” argument (which is kind of ironic given the popularity of shaving it all off again.) which covers anyone who shows any sign of adolescent hair growth.

      Or “she was asking for it / totally wanted it / shouldn’t have been acting that way / shouldn’t have been dressed like that”.

      Because those are all the soundest of arguments.

      But the unspoken reason will be: “He’s rich and famous and therefore he can do what the hell he wants with no consequences. F–k you.”

  • iiGxC@slrpnk.net
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    5 months ago

    "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

    • eatthecake@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      They’re saying rapists aren’t a real risk, only pedophiles, that’s disturbing to me.

      • Nightwatch Admin@feddit.nl
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        5 months ago

        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.

  • InfiniteGlitch@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    5 months ago

    The world has going immensely nuts;

    • Genocide seems okay by most of the presidents.
    • Calling for justice is a hate crime and gets you arrested.
    • Racism and Fascism on the rise.
    • Raping a 12 year old person seems to be okay, doesn’t get you labeled as a pedophile.
    • Calling out that Zionism is in fact bad gets you the “antisemitic” name.
    • Quoting Hitler seems to be okay
    • Saying that you want to erase and nuke a whole group/race seems to be okay.

    I’m seriously worried for the future.

    • athairmor@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      All of those things happened in the past, too. Probably even more than now.

      I think the difference, now, is that it gets called out a lot more. In the past, it happened quietly and people went along or pretended to not notice. Now, people are calling it out and the shitty people have to openly defend it.

      • kautau@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        It’s definitely a double edged sword though. The hatred/bad actors are more visible through the broader lens brought on by social media, but also those who would not have found support or like minded people now have echo chambers with others they can join

      • Thrashy@lemmy.world
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        With regard to this specific issue, you don’t even have to go looking for cases of young women being discouraged from reporting rape and sexual assault allegations against promising young athletes, because “think how you could hurt his future prospects” – examples are so plentiful that you can’t help but find them if you spend any time reviewing sports news. It’s really only been in the last decade or so that anybody has seriously pushed back against the idea that Johnny Sportsball’s ability to score points for the local team is more important than the safety and bodily autonomy of women.

  • catloaf@lemm.ee
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    5 months ago

    Pedophile or not, it doesn’t matter. He’s still a child rapist.

    • narc0tic_bird@lemm.ee
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      5 months ago

      Being a rapist doesn’t even need a qualifier, you’re a piece of shit regardless.

  • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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    5 months ago

    Van de Velde, who is now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to raping the girl in Milton Keynes. He had flown to England to meet her in 2014 with full knowledge of her age, having met her on Facebook. He served 12 months in a British prison, before being transferred to his home country where he was released after a further month.

    This does sound just a tiny bit pedoey.

    • kaitco@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago

      I’m sorry, but in what world does this not make him a pedophile?

      He went to a location to have sex with a 12-year old. There are loads of people in ass-pounding prison right now for those exact acts as pedos.

      He’s a pedo and a rapist. This is some asinine Brock Turner level nonsense. The Dutch should be ashamed to have even accepted him back home let alone send him to the Olympics.

      • harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        5 months ago

        Most men who commit these crimes aren’t sexually attracted to children/adolescents. It’s the power trip behind it and the feeling of control. Unfortunately, they end up targeting children because they are so vulnerable.

        Pedophilia is rather rare and can be treated easily but society and the media have done so much damage that people who are truly pedophiles are afraid to seek help.

        Brock Allen Turner and this guy are sociopaths. Entitled, narcissistic shits who think they can have or do whatever they want.

          • harrys_balzac@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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            5 months ago

            Definitely sick. The main point is that they really don’t care about the identity of their victims - just that they can satisfy their own desires. This guy would probably just as likely rape a passed out 50-something woman if he thought he could get away with it.

        • Zetta@mander.xyz
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          5 months ago

          Unrelated to the main post but your comment brings up a point I think is important for society to understand. “pedophiles are afraid to seek help.” Pedophilia is a mental disorder and doesn’t inherently mean someone is a criminal, or ever will become one. But because it is such a violent and life destroying term to be labeled as a pedo those who have this mental disorder and are struggling to not offend will never seek the mental help they desperately need, this in turn leads to children being harmed.

          Everyone is responsible for their actions, and pedophiles who rape or hurt kids are also responsible for their actions, but society as a whole contributes to more children being harmed by the way we represent and treat the mental disorder.

    • dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net
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      Yeah. It would be extremely questionable but still a little believable if the situation was “we met at a club that was supposed to be 21 and up and I thought she just looked young.” The reality is he traveled to another country to rape someone he knew was a child.

    • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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      Yeah, in what world is he not a pedophile (don’t @ me about ephebophilia)? I thought the rub would be that he was 14 months older than her or something. He was 19 and traveled to another country to have sex with a preteen.

  • Lurkinney@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    Are they talking about the pedophile Steven Van De Velde? The pedophile that likes having sex with children Steven Van De Velde? I think that guy might be a pedophile.

  • Zoldyck@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    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.

    • Sibbo@sopuli.xyz
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      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.

    • Hegar@fedia.io
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      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.

    • UnpopularCrow@lemmy.world
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      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.

    • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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      5 months ago
      1. She was 12
      2. He flew from his home in the Netherlands to England (~209miles) to meet this girl
      3. She was 12, he was 19
      4. He raped her
      5. He plead guilty (not found guilty)
      6. She was 12
      7. Sentenced to four years in prison
      8. 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.

      • Sibbo@sopuli.xyz
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        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.

        • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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          5 months ago

          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. 😊

          • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
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            5 months ago

            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.

            • dohpaz42@lemmy.world
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              5 months ago

              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.

    • Meldrik@lemmy.wtf
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      5 months ago

      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.

    • exanime@lemmy.world
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      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”.

    • rand_alpha19@moist.catsweat.com
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      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.

  • BZ 🇨🇦@lemm.ee
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    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?

    • RedAggroBest@lemmy.world
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      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?

      • exanime@lemmy.world
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        5 months ago

        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

      • M0oP0o@mander.xyz
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        5 months ago

        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”

  • Sibbo@sopuli.xyz
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    Van de Velde, who is now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to raping the girl in Milton Keynes. He had flown to England to meet her in 2014 with full knowledge of her age, having met her on Facebook. He served 12 months in a British prison, before being transferred to his home country where he was released after a further month.

    So he was 19 at the time of rape. Sick fuck.

  • yesman@lemmy.world
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    I’ll never get over the power of language. Here we have a man that raped a child and the controversy is over how to label the rapist.

    No holy book in history has ever exercised more influence and control over society than the dictionary.

  • UnpopularCrow@lemmy.world
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    Is everyone here talking about Steven Van de Velde the child rapist and peadophile? I heard he only served 13 months for repeated raping a child who he encouraged to get the morning after pill. She self harms herself now due to the guilt. Is it that Steven Van de Velde, the child rapist you are talking about?

    • jumjummy@lemmy.world
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      Oh, thanks for clarifying, I thought we were talking about Brock The Rapist Turner for a second.

    • Nightwatch Admin@feddit.nl
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      I believe we are indeed talking about Steven van de Velde, convicted child rapist and paedophile.

  • Clbull@lemmy.world
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    5 months ago

    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.

    • caboose2006@lemmy.ca
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      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.

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    Let’s briefly set aside the fact that she was 12.

    He was convicted of raping another person… period. That alone should disqualify him from representing his country at the Olympics.

    Now back to your regular scheduled world wide publicity for Steven van de Velde, who repeatedly raped a 12 year old girl.

    • AA5B@lemmy.world
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      Presumably did his time, but you have to let criminals who have completed their sentence rejoin society.

      A child rapist is another story

      • Echo Dot@feddit.uk
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        5 months ago

        But apparently not a pedophile. Not sure how that works, I’m also unclear on why it’s even relevant.

        If he’d murdered someone would that be better or worse?

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          They just want to clarify that he’s not selective, he’d also rape adult women if given the opportunity.

        • Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          The Dutch wikipedia explains that according to research, 25% to 50% acts because of a sexual preference for minors.

          The others only act because they see an easy opportunity to have sex, or worse, want to exploit them.

          I guess that’s what he bases his statement on?

          Just a bunch of downplaying stuff with definitions and nonsense talk in my opinion.

    • GeoGio7@lemmy.world
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      Well actually, If you set aside her age it wouldn’t be rape at all, since it’s statutory rape. She technically consented and did things herself. But of course since she’s a child she can’t consent, she was manipulated by someone much older.

      My point is her age is very important and should definitely not be set aside.

      • exanime@lemmy.world
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        She technically consented

        He got her drunk… Not only she was too young to consent, he made her drunk this invalidating any chance for valid consent even if she was much older.

        • GeoGio7@lemmy.world
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          They talked for a long time through messaging before hand and talked about having sex. Either way, she couldn’t consent she was just a child. Disgusting.

          • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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            Nothing you are saying mitigates this in any way. She was 12. None of the shit leading up to it should have happened either. If anything that makes it worse.

            • fmstrat@lemmy.nowsci.com
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              While controversial, comment OPs point is a response to taking age out of the equation. All they are saying is that you shouldn’t do that. They’re not saying “It’s not rape,” or that he “isn’t a rapist.” Which… You seem to be agreeing with.

              • lightnsfw@reddthat.com
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                Well actually, If you set aside her age it wouldn’t be rape at all, since it’s statutory rape.

                • candybrie@lemmy.world
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                  If adults talked about having sex, got drunk, and had sex, I don’t think people would generally consider it rape. That one of the people involved was 12 is what makes it absolutely rape and utterly disgusting.