A convicted child rapist will compete in the Olympics on Sunday despite being a registered sex offender.
Steven van de Velde, a Dutch beach volleyball player, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for traveling to Milton Keynes, England and raping a 12-year-old school girl he met on Facebook when he was 19.
But he is due to step onto the special sand of the Olympic beach volleyball court in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower to represent the Netherlands in a first-round match against Italy.
Van de Velde, now 29, was only caught because he hadn’t used birth control and told the girl to get a morning-after-pill from a family planning clinic, which notified her family and police because of her age.
After being extradited from the Netherlands, van de Velde pleaded guilty to three counts of raping a child.
The British judge admonished him: “Your hopes of representing your country now lie as a shattered dream.” His lawyer said: “He’s lost a stellar sporting career…it’s plainly a career end for him.”
Van de Velde served one year in British prison before being transferred to the Netherlands, where he served another month and was released in 2017 because of less severe underage sex laws.
“Everyone wants to be liked, everyone wants to be respected, and with something like this on your record, it’s difficult,” he said in a Dutch TV interview after his release. “I can’t reverse it, so I have to carry the consequences. It’s the biggest mistake of my life.”
In another newspaper interview, he said: “I have been branded as a sex monster, as a pedophile. That I am not—really not.”
A Dutch national champion, van de Velde has pursued a pro beach volleyball career and played in international tournaments since being freed. But his selection as an Olympian has been heavily criticized by survivor groups.
Beach volleyball takes place in a specially built stadium in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Andrew Nelles/Reuters
The Dutch Olympic Committee defended its decision to include him on the team and said that van de Velde would not live in the Olympic Village or speak with the media.
“Steven is NOT a peadophile [sic]; you really don’t think that the Dutch [Olympic Committee] would send someone to Paris who IS a real risk?” a Dutch Olympic Committee spokesman wrote in response to public criticism, according to The Guardian. “No, he isn’t a risk.”
“Van de Velde has fully engaged with all requirements and has met all the stringent risk assessment thresholds, checks and due diligence,” the Dutch Olympic Committee said in a separate statement. “Experts have stated that there is no risk of recidivism. Van de Velde has consistently remained transparent about the case which he refers to as the most significant misstep of his life. He deeply regrets the consequences of his actions for those involved. He has been open about the personal transformation he has undergone as a result.”
Van de Velde is being kept away from the Olympic Village and not allowed to speak to the media. The Dutch Olympic Committee has insisted he is not a pedophile despite his conviction for raping a 12-year-old.
Ibraheem Al Omari/Reuters
He has been married to a German beach volleyball player since 2022 and the couple has a 2-year-old son.
“When van de Velde looks in the mirror now, he sees a mature and happy man, married and the father of a beautiful son,” the Dutch Volleyball Association said on its website.
A petition urging the International Olympic Committee to ban known sex offenders from competing has garnered nearly 81,000 signatures.
The Brave Movement, a survivor-centered global movement to end childhood sexual violence, said in an open letter that the Dutch Olympic committee should remove him. “We believe that is the only appropriate action.”
“An athlete convicted of child sexual abuse, no matter in what country, should not be awarded the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Games,” Julie Ann Rivers-Cochran, executive director of The Army of Survivors, told The New York Times. “Raping a minor is not a ‘misstep’ — it is a criminal violation that should exclude people from participation in the Olympic Games.”
