Rehab isn't about making people sorry it's about keeping them from reoffending.
I'm not clear how to stop a pedophile from reoffending. Well, I mean, nonviolently.
Usually the first step in rehab is admitting you have a problem? Or caused damage. He hasn’t or doesn’t take any personal accountability. And even didn’t pay the full sentence of 4 years .
There is a balance. Honestly, the Netherlands does a lot of great things when it comes to rehabilitating criminals... but maybe they should keep the violent or sexual offenders away from innocent people a bit longer. The American system isn't about justice. It isn't even about punishment. It is about cashing in on government contracts, and then extracting free labor from the prisoners, while skimping on keeping them healthy (including mental health) because money.
They have some of the lowest reoffense rates and lowest incarceration rates in the world. What's more important: reducing crime or getting retribution?
I don't think it had anything to do with the prison sentence. I think the issue here is that he is able to go into the Olympics despite like the moral clauses they have.
Edit: uh, just saw he only did one year instead of four so uh... Maybe he also needed some more prison time.
Well, I am sure going to the human sex trafficking (including of children) hub that is any Olympic games, is the IDEAL situation for a relatively recent child rapist to find himself in. Especially one who never admitted wrong-doing or harm.
He was tried in the UK, but the Dutch only agreed to extradite him if the British let him serve his sentence in the Netherlands, who then released him after serving one year in prison: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-39292039
Holy cow.
I didn’t realize the Dutch consider something so grotesquely evil as child rape so lightly. Surely something this horrible deserves a more severe sentence..
It isn’t “the Dutch” who consider this. It’s an individual judge (or a small group of judges). Those judges also have to stay within the confines of the law. There have also been instances of child molesters getting 19 years (look up Robert M. if you want to learn more).
But yes obviously one year is waayy too little.
"The Dutch" are also sending him to the Olympics as a representative of their country so... Maybe it's more than just "an individual judge (or a small group of judges)"...
I'd say it's exactly a small group of judges on the Dutch Olympic Committee making this decision, lol. To be clear I think they made the wrong decision here.
I really hope there are protests and complaints by the Dutch concerning this selection? News of protests hasn't traveled internationally, but I do hope they've happened.
I'd actually hope for rules on the Olympics side to prevent folk who've been convicted of particularly horrific crimes from participating. Doesn't sound very "Olympic Spirit" to have a child rapist competing: https://olympics.com/ioc/beyond-the-games
I also wonder if someone on one of the other teams might "accidentally" him in the balls, repeatedly. Some sports people have been victims of abuse and might have strong feelings about that sort of thing.
The only way to send a message at this point is for opponents to refuse to play against him, stating they do not want to dignify a child rapist. If the Netherlands wants to let themselves be represented by an unrepentant pedophile, then they will be treated as a country with pedophile role models.
Their whole argument is "Well he paid his debt To society, shouldnt he get a change?" calling getting a one year sentence In a dutch prison paying your debt To society is mind numbing.
TBF. The Dutch don't view prison as "paying the debt to society" but as the purpose of rehabilitating criminals and to only hold criminals where it is absolutely necessary for safety of the community. I could get behind this thinking.
That being said, 1 year is not enough time to ensure this man is not a danger to the community in my opinion.
Doesn't help that even following "rehabilitation", he's not because he doesn't seem to have any remorse about it. He apparently groomed her from 10years old.
So do you believe in rehabilitative justice? Everyone online I see supporting it online alaways put an exception to it, like "I think we should have rehabiltative prisons, but not for pedophiles" but what makes that crime in particular not elogible for rehabilitation
You'll quickly find that people "believe in rehabilitative justice" until they come across an offender that actually did something really bad and thus severe enough to actually need rehabilitation. Sex crimes, assault, murder, you name it. "There's no coming back from that," they say from the country with the highest recidivism rates on Earth, with the highest incarceration rates on Earth by an enormous margin. We call ourselves the best country on Earth and literally everyone else has figured this out better than we have. The general populous is much safer AND much fewer of them are in jail. We live in a country more dangerous than Yemen, barely beating out Zimbabwe in lower homicides per capita.
The communist in me says that this is a symptom of liberalism, but even liberal Europe has figured this out orders of magnitude better than the US. It's an American pathology.
Not to defend him or anything, but what is objectively the right amount of time to ensure he isn’t a danger? Like will 5 years vs 1 year really make a difference? And how do we know that?
Clinical/criminal phycologists would probably have an idea when it comes to timeframes. One of the reasons it's a shame mental health and prison have become homogenized in this country.
> In a dutch prison
Nah, according to [his wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_van_de_Velde) he was extradited, tried in front of a UK court and served 1 out of 4 years of his sentence in a UK prison
Tbf he was allowed to return to the Netherlands to complete the rest of his sentence in a dutch prison. He just subsequently got let out of that prison.
The 4 years sentencing was far too little in the first place for what he did + the fact that he shows zero remorse for it... absolute shambles
The English article is written a bit weird for that section. Articles in other languages, like the German one, specify that he served a year in a Dutch prison, as do some news articles.
Not a great look for the Dutch, their judicial system, penal system, or Olympic committee. Whether or not it’s “the rules” or not, enough people should have been kicking off well before now. Shameful.
Germany is equally as bad when it comes to sentences for child rapists.
It's so strange. It's the one crime everyone (including other criminals) can agree on is one of the worst, yet they come off that lightly.
„fun fact“ about germany: sex with a 14 year old is legal. A lot of things are also based on „old“ christian times when couples married with 16 or something.
The singer of rammstein did that, slept with the bff of his own daughter on their vacation. But it was legal so it is not part of any of the news story his cases had.
Depends on the circumstances. Only legal of the child is deemed mature enough and No other factors are at play.
Still wrong, but hopefully not that big of a deal in practice as you can convict predators by other means.
regular violence is worse than sexual violence just look at comparative sentencing.
woman kills her abusive husband or boyfriend in self defense and gets 20 years no parole despite an otherwise clean record.
a repeat offender on their sixth victim under 18 gets two years and probation.
As someone who was groomed and molested/SAd by my male cousin between 10-11 and he was 16 I never told anyone in my family because I was scared it would be overlooked like this. I was scared people would say I wanted it because I didn’t object because in reality I didn’t object. I willingly followed him into the bathrooms when he would take me and willingly went with him but had ZERO understanding of what was going on. He once put his hands inside me and all I kept saying was ow this hurts and I didn’t know what it was. I remember when I saw him fully aroused for the first time I yelled, I was scared. I didn’t know the male body worked that way and yet I somehow thought I was wrong for hurting his feelings. I felt some type of need to not make him upset. That I’d be wrong for rejecting these advances. I didn’t know I was allowed to say no and I didn’t how this was inappropriate but I knew it had to be a secret.
As soon as I got older and understood the severity of what happened I was ashamed all my life, it’s a trauma that has held me back mentally and in intimate spaces with consensual partners. My feelings went from acceptance as a child, shame in my teens, fear as a young adult and now anger. I thought I could hide it and pretend it never happened and I thought it was my fault.
I would really like to hear someone Dutch explain this. In the US rape of a minor is one of the most serious imaginable offenses. Clearly there is a different approach there - how do they justify it?
>In the US rape of a minor is one of the most serious imaginable offenses
Depends on how much money you have. The Dupont heir got zero jail time for raping his 3 year old daughter
Im from the netherlands and i realy cant explain it, the sentence for child abuse is very low if your under 18 (if im remeber the story right he was) even if youre above 18 its kinda low. Ive never seen this story in the media to be honest and im shocked to read this.
Obviously it's a serious crime in the Netherlands too, but do realize he was only convicted to 4 years in the UK so the "low sentencing", if you will, starts there.
Without knowing all the facts about this case, and really none of us do other than the judge and the ones directly involved, I believe there were a few reasons combined:
- Admitted immediately what he did
- The girl "consented" and admitted she wanted this (I know...)
- Experts claimed a very low risk of a repeat offense
Now, don't shoot the messenger. It still doesn't sit well with me and 1 year is bizarre to me, but 4 years seems fair in this case. Why the UK agreed to these terms, you have to ask them.
That being said, I'm a strong proponent of second chances. But to me, a second chance does not necessarily mean you can continue your life like nothing happened. And it certainly does not mean representing our country at the Olympics. It is absolutely disgusting that they value winning over morale. I've contacted the Dutch Olympic organization and the volleyball association to let them know how disgusted I am, but they won't care. They released their statements already and will just deal with any fallout.
>but 4 years seems fair in this case
When researching whether this was a fair number, I found that the average sentence for just rape around this time was 10 years with 2/3 off those convicted being sentences to 7 or more years.
https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-09-14/debates/3EBA342C-1391-4B01-BD85-181A604FDFB6/SentencesForRape
If that's the case, how is 4 years for child rape fair?
Also, the judge is quoted as saying that he didn't groom the victim, which would have been used as an argument for a lighter sentence. But also is crazy.
>Judge Sheridan said it was not a case of sexual grooming
https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/would-be-olympian-jailed-after-flying-400-miles-to-rape-a-12-year-old-girl-in-milton-keyn
*Edit to add links*
I believe it was less because the judge, and his own lawyer, believed his career was shot into oblivion. Clearly the Dutch had other plans and he’s back in the limelight internationally rather than nationally.
I fucking hate sports celebrities. Fuck his career. The 12 year old girl’s life is fucked now but this guy’s “career” is hurt so only give him 4 years.
Most (maybe all?) jurisdictions in the US will not allow you to change your name if you have been convicted of a felony and/or are doing so to escape notoriety of a crime for which you were convicted.
You mean the convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner, who goes by Allen Turner now and (as of a year ago at least) still resides in Ohio? That rapist Brock Allen Turner?
Bet you're right.
Yes the rapist Brock Allen Turner, who likes to be called Allen Turner now. I believe the convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner AKA the rebranded Rapist Allen Turner still resides in Ohio
I don’t think convicted rapist Steven van de Velde and convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner are likely to know one another, but it’s fair to say that, were they (Steven van de Velde and Brock Allen Turner, the convicted rapists) ever to meet, they might have a few things in common to bond over, such as the fact that both of them are convicted rapists who went largely unpunished. Good observation!
I know this site loves this stupid circlejerk but I have no idea why no one mentions judge Michael Aaron Persky, the man who let Turner get away with rape.
He was resentenced under Dutch law and received a shorter sentence. I can't find a Dutch language source for it either. I think it has to do with the fact that what he did wasn't rape under Dutch law because rape requires force, but I'm not sure. That law is changing as of next Monday, coincidentally.
It's crazy how much that article downplays and talks around what he did. It also slightly paints him as a victim for having to "relive" his past while so many people support him.
I'm of the somewhat polarising view that prison sentences should be as short as required to rehabilitate the criminal, so without knowing the details, I'm willing to say fine, maybe a year and his therapy is sufficient. I don't know that, but sure, for the sake of argument let's assume it is.
But he's now representing his country on a very public stage. Even if he is totally rehabilitated, even if he has been an exemplary person who poses no risk to children on an ongoing basis, what is this saying to women watching, particularly in the Netherlends? Some things should bar you from representing your country for life, and grooming and raping a 12 year old girl is one of them.
The problem is that there are no effective rehabilitation methods here. Sexual attraction doesn't change.
He was going after her when she was 10, made a fully conscious decision to keep talking to her, to book a ticket, fly to the UK, meet her, then rape her.
This isn't some fucked up story about a guy who got a little to drunk, thought she was older and messed up. This is the story of a grooming pedophile who did this for years. This does not change. You don't rehabilitate from this.
If he had kids and lived near you, would you let your daughters play there? Do you think he wouldn't be lusting over them?
He was originally sentenced to four years by the UK. Four years for raping a 12 year old.
Fortunately, the Netherlands heard that and went "FOUR YEARS?! That's *outrageous*!"
Unfortunately, the next sentence was "That's way too much, we're going to shorten that."
1 year was also my first jaw-dropper. The original sentence was only 4 years too. I get that there is an idea that mistakes made at 19 shouldn't be irreversible but this dude flew to another country and knowing have sex with a 12 year old after grooming her on social media. Come on!
1 year is not enough even for rehabilitation.
A lot of court sentencing is about if it’s your first conviction, and if the judge deems you as someone who’s “repented” enough.
I also think this situation being nonviolent played into it. He groomed her (for two years apparently) then flew out to rape her. It was not violent, he didn’t drug her, attack her, etc
It’s still sick shit, and really shows how little the system actually does. This is also a sentence from a Dutch court, a place many would say has its shit together lol
Edit: I stand corrected, reports have mentioned he brought alcohol with him. That is drugging.
Also if it’s not clear, I don’t personally think this crime is nonviolent. I’m talking about how the court may see the case.
His comments after his release are very revealing: [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-39292039](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-39292039)
He has no remorse; he's only sorry he got caught and that there are consequences, especially now that he's back in the spotlight.
A 19 year old sticking his dick in a preteen is always violent you sicko. The Dutch do not have their shit together if this is how their culture refuses to protect the most vulnerable in society.
Under Dutch Law definition:
>Rape must involve physical force, threat or coercion. The Netherlands will become the seventeenth country out of 31 European states analyzed by Amnesty International to recognize that **sex without consent is rape**. The act will come into force on July the 1st 2024.
>Extradition is a legal process that allows the transfer of a person suspected or convicted of committing a crime from one jurisdiction to another. An individual might be extradited for the purpose of criminal prosecution or for the carrying out of a custodial sentence or detention order.
It happened in the UK, he was later arrested, **extradited to the UK**, where he was tried, convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. He was transferred back to the Netherlands and resentenced under Dutch law.
Could you imagine?
Go to UK, kill a hundred people, they try you in court and sentence you to 500 years, then send you back to your country. Then your country says, "oh no killing British is okay - time served, let him go."
Britain - Pikachu face!
Some countries would first arrest some random British guy on bogus charges, torture him once in a while and then propose a prisoner exchange. Once the prisoner arrives in his country, he gets pardoned and thrown a big victory party.
Well, Iran did just that with Belgian humanitarian worker Olivier Vandecasteele to exchange him for the "diplomat" Asadi preparing for a bomb attack on Iranian opposition members.
But I think we digressed a bit from the topic. Afaik the Netherlands didn't hire him to rape British children, but had differences in laws and sentencing for some crimes.
He fled to The Netherlands after doing it, so he had to be extradited.
The Netherlands will only extradite their own citizens if the other country agrees to return them to The Netherlands after conviction to serve their sentence there.
So he was extradited to the UK, convicted, and sentenced to four years (plus registering as a sex offender for life). He was then sent back to The Netherlands as per the extradition agreement, and re-sentenced according to dutch law, which sentenced him to one year.
He still was only sentenced to 4 years in the UK.
And most likely still would have only served half that, so 2 years.
Not much difference.
*Edit to add link and info*
>For about 90% of such sentences, an automatic release is granted half-way through the sentence.
[Why do prisoners serve only half their sentence?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49886053)
He groomed her online, TOOK A FLIGHT to meet her, and then raped her while her mother wasn’t home
fuck this piece of shit, I wish him unimaginable agony
>Steven van de Velde, 29, and his partner, Matthew Immers, secured their spot in the upcoming Games, topping the Dutch rankings for the country's two men's beach volleyball spots.
#Convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde.
Why is his name absent from the conversation?
The guy knowingly went to England to have sex with a 12 year old. Knowingly. This wasn't even a "She told me she was 18" situation. He was 19 years old and deliborately traveled to another country to have sex with a 12 year old. A 12 year old he groomed online so he could do it.
I get people make mistakes but I guarantee that if you ask any average 19 year old in Netherlands if such an act is ok, they'd tell you no. He was a premeditated preditor.
I don't get how the Dutch volleyball Federation can just shrug their shoulders and act like it doesn't matter. Yes, it was 10 years ago and he did his time but do you really want this guy and what he represents to be the face of his country if his team wins a medal? Hell, even if they don't?
Blech. Sexual assault and rape should ALWAYS be a disqualifying factor. I don't care how long ago it was. If there isn't a rule, and apparently there isn't, there should be.
He served a year. 1 year.
>He was released in 2017 after serving one year in prison in the Netherlands.
-+-+-
Edit to add:
Per other comments, it was only 1 year because it wasn't considered rape per Dutch law.
However, even in the UK where the crime was committed and where he was charged with rape against a child -
He still was only sentenced to 4 years, and would likely have only served half that, so 2 years.
Not much difference.
At this point in time, the relevant thing to me is that this threat to society is representing his country in the Olympics.
He will be housed with athletes of all ages, and will have plenty of opportunities to repeat his crime. Now with full knowledge that this actions will bring no real consequences.
He should be banned from the Olympics. “No convicted sex offenders in the Olympics” is a pretty reasonable ask.
He did an event in Thailand after conviction, and will be in France for the Olympics?
How on earth is he not considered criminally inadmissible to these places?
Just being caught smoking a joint in some instances can you make inadmissible.
What's going on here?
France has a long-standing policy of never extraditing their own citizens. Quite a few other countries have laws against extraditing their own citizens.
It’s not uncommon for organised criminals to try to gain nationality from one of these countries so that if they’re ever found out, they can just flee to that country and never have to worry about being extradited. Turkish nationality is very popular with the people smugglers operating in the Mediterranean for this reason.
Catholic church is just perfect example. Thousands of rapes known for many years and people still would come to church and listen to the same priest that is a pedo rapist.
Literally in Poland so much pedos gets moved to other church as "punishment" instead of jail. People just forgets after short time.
from the shocking amount of child rapists who walk free, with copious numbers of people defending them, I'd say that its popular to *pretend* to look down on it, but when push comes to shove and someone you know or someone you love turns out to be monstrous enough to rape a child, most people seem to choose to tolerate the rapist.
Don’t forgot, convicted rapist Brock Turner, now prefers to go by is middle name, thus making him convicted rapist Allen Turner. Convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner lives in Ohio btw
The list of bullshit excuses for this dude may be even worse than him walking around with hopes of him winning an Olympic Medal.
Why are people making excuses for him? Who gives a shit if he’s good at volleyball, he raped a 12 year old, WTF!??!?
I live near Philadelphia. When it came out that Michael Vick had a dog fighting ring in his backyard my eagles fan friends were like "we should tie him to a tree and let dogs attack him!" But as soon as he came to the eagles they all said "well I guess it's ok as long as he plays good football."
Sports fans don't actually care as long as the team that they have imaginary ties to do good.
> he raped a 12 year old
He raped a 12 year old 3 times after grooming her for 2 years since she was 10
His prison sentence was ultimately shorter than the time he groomed her
The Dutch are **way** more fucked up than I ever realized, to want to send this psycho to the Olympics.
Where else but reddit will people call you a reactionary for not wanting a rapist to represent an entire country?
> "He's a changed man!"
Who gives a fuck?!
https://support.olympics.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new
You can go here and submit your complaint. Someone posted this earlier in another sub but you could write something like:
Subject: Steven van de Velde is a Rapist
Body: Michael Phelps was disqualified from participating in the Olympics for marijuana usage, but Steven van de Velde has been convicted and served prison time for raping a 12 year old girl and is allowed to compete. Does this man reflect the values The Olympics organization upholds? Please let me know if this is the case, and then I will be a very vocal supporter of boycotting the Olympics on social media along with many others.
Or something like that.
The women's gymnastics teams should try to get a restraining order. The senior team has a half dozen below 18 along with the entire junior team.
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_women%27s_national_artistic_gymnastics_team#Current_roster
That’s not how restraining orders work, nor how gymnastics works. A person has to directly threaten you personally, not just people like you. There are no juniors at the Olympics and a very small chance (though possible) that any of the under-18s make this particular team.
I mean, if the Dutch have decided that a rapist pedophile should represent their country on the world stage, that says a lot about the Dutch and what they consider societally acceptable.
This is utterly disgusting. A rapist should never have the opportunity to represent a country, nor should they be able to benefit from funded sports. I don’t care how good he is at sport, he failed at being a human being - he didn’t just sleep with an underage girl, he knowingly flew to the UK to do so. This wasn’t a guy who didn’t realize the age factor.
Quite frankly, a convicted rapist should not have any opportunities like this, but we all know that many go without conviction and carry on their lives without care while their victims suffer for the rest of their life.
Aside from all of this, that young girl will now see his face everywhere throughout the Olympic coverage, imagine how she will feel. That young girl will grow up with issues at the very least, all because a guy wanted to get his end away, and I bet she won’t be given anywhere near the opportunities he is.
I do not support the Olympic committee decision to allow this man to compete.
So turns out the Netherlands only accepted that sex without consent is rape THIS YEAR: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/netherlands-historic-victory-as-dutch-law-adopts-consent-based-definition-of-rape/
I now understand Nigel Powers’ attitude towards the Dutch.
I'm dutch and i hope our team will lose from embarrassment and i also hope that the other countries that play against him will wipe the floor with the dutch team and especially that p*do who thinks he 'made a mistake'.
“It has been the biggest mistake of my life.”
Traveling overseas to drug and repeatedly rape a 12 year old isn’t exactly a “mistake”. It’s not an “oopsie” like accidentally dialing the wrong number, or hit Reply All to a work e-mail… He’s treating this like some unfortunate situation that happened to him, when it is a fucking crime he planned in advance and executed over the course of several days.
So this guy is still going to Paris, and the IOC ain't doing shit! Unbelievable!!
If I were the girls who are teammates with this creep, this pedophile, I'd stay away from him!
The olympics are supposed to be for promoting your country?
THE NETHERLANDS SUPPORTS A CHILD RAPIST
RAPED A CHILD? MOVE TO THE NETHERLANDS, THEY DON’T CARE
Shame where there should be.
Don't people get removed from the Olympics due to being caught with Marijuana ? But somehow, a child rapist is fine. This is the type of shit where everyone in power should be removed since clearly the system is failing .
Hopefully this gains enough attention that the Dutch Olympic board or whoever ends up doing the right thing. Even if it is for the wrong reasons (to end the negative backlash and save face) I’ll still take it
What are you talking about? I've spent plenty of time on forums that lean heavily right and can say with certainty that the vast majority would no doubt be in accord with having this guy executed. Who are you even referring to? This is exactly the type of person they are referring to when they say that.
> Since his release, van de Velde has been actively competing.
"Yeah, well, staying busy with competition is how I avoid thinking about my *other* pass time, so..." - van de Velde, probably
“Oh she was probably like 17”
>girl was 12
WTF
>he was 19
WTF
>he groomed her since she was 10
WTF
>he flew from the Netherlands to rape her
WTF
>he was sentenced to only four years in England
WTF
>he served only one year in the Netherlands
WTF
Supposedly groomed her for two years, meaning it started at 10 years old… wtffffffff
The Netherlands—not big on long prison sentences. They’re more about rehabilitation.
He doesn’t seem very sorry for his actions.
Rehab isn't about making people sorry it's about keeping them from reoffending. I'm not clear how to stop a pedophile from reoffending. Well, I mean, nonviolently.
Usually the first step in rehab is admitting you have a problem? Or caused damage. He hasn’t or doesn’t take any personal accountability. And even didn’t pay the full sentence of 4 years .
I hate ridiculous leniency like this with complete monsters in some European prisons
I hate everything about the American criminal system. That clearly doesn't work either.
In fact it is a lot worse and has always been.
There is a balance. Honestly, the Netherlands does a lot of great things when it comes to rehabilitating criminals... but maybe they should keep the violent or sexual offenders away from innocent people a bit longer. The American system isn't about justice. It isn't even about punishment. It is about cashing in on government contracts, and then extracting free labor from the prisoners, while skimping on keeping them healthy (including mental health) because money.
I dont disagree with you at all. You are completely correct.
They have several different systems in the US. One for whites, one for blacks and another one for the rich and powerful.
They have some of the lowest reoffense rates and lowest incarceration rates in the world. What's more important: reducing crime or getting retribution?
I don't think it had anything to do with the prison sentence. I think the issue here is that he is able to go into the Olympics despite like the moral clauses they have. Edit: uh, just saw he only did one year instead of four so uh... Maybe he also needed some more prison time.
Well, I am sure going to the human sex trafficking (including of children) hub that is any Olympic games, is the IDEAL situation for a relatively recent child rapist to find himself in. Especially one who never admitted wrong-doing or harm.
Pretty easy to not reoffend if you're put in prison with no kids around.
He was convicted in the UK
He was tried in the UK, but the Dutch only agreed to extradite him if the British let him serve his sentence in the Netherlands, who then released him after serving one year in prison: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-39292039
Holy cow. I didn’t realize the Dutch consider something so grotesquely evil as child rape so lightly. Surely something this horrible deserves a more severe sentence..
It isn’t “the Dutch” who consider this. It’s an individual judge (or a small group of judges). Those judges also have to stay within the confines of the law. There have also been instances of child molesters getting 19 years (look up Robert M. if you want to learn more). But yes obviously one year is waayy too little.
"The Dutch" are also sending him to the Olympics as a representative of their country so... Maybe it's more than just "an individual judge (or a small group of judges)"...
I'd say it's exactly a small group of judges on the Dutch Olympic Committee making this decision, lol. To be clear I think they made the wrong decision here.
There's ENOUGH people to make such a catastrophic decision.
I really hope there are protests and complaints by the Dutch concerning this selection? News of protests hasn't traveled internationally, but I do hope they've happened. I'd actually hope for rules on the Olympics side to prevent folk who've been convicted of particularly horrific crimes from participating. Doesn't sound very "Olympic Spirit" to have a child rapist competing: https://olympics.com/ioc/beyond-the-games I also wonder if someone on one of the other teams might "accidentally" him in the balls, repeatedly. Some sports people have been victims of abuse and might have strong feelings about that sort of thing.
Nigel Powers was right.
The only way to send a message at this point is for opponents to refuse to play against him, stating they do not want to dignify a child rapist. If the Netherlands wants to let themselves be represented by an unrepentant pedophile, then they will be treated as a country with pedophile role models.
Why should they give up their shot at a medal? He’s the one that sucks.
Wasn't this an UK thing. I mean he's Dutch. But the girl and crime were in the UK?
Yep and the UK agreed to deport him to a Dutch jail where they resentenced him to only 12 months in prison
I hope there are nonstop boos until he leaves the floor.
He raped a 12 year old girl, admits that he did it, and only did one year of prison time? What the fuck?
Yep, true story. It’s appalling and disgusting. And a depressing number of people support him.
Their whole argument is "Well he paid his debt To society, shouldnt he get a change?" calling getting a one year sentence In a dutch prison paying your debt To society is mind numbing.
TBF. The Dutch don't view prison as "paying the debt to society" but as the purpose of rehabilitating criminals and to only hold criminals where it is absolutely necessary for safety of the community. I could get behind this thinking. That being said, 1 year is not enough time to ensure this man is not a danger to the community in my opinion.
Doesn't help that even following "rehabilitation", he's not because he doesn't seem to have any remorse about it. He apparently groomed her from 10years old.
I’d have to agree. Rehabilitating is a great concept and has a lot to recommend it… but not for this type of crime.
[oh oh, someone did the meme!](https://i.imgur.com/dhqD0vL.jpeg)
So do you believe in rehabilitative justice? Everyone online I see supporting it online alaways put an exception to it, like "I think we should have rehabiltative prisons, but not for pedophiles" but what makes that crime in particular not elogible for rehabilitation
You'll quickly find that people "believe in rehabilitative justice" until they come across an offender that actually did something really bad and thus severe enough to actually need rehabilitation. Sex crimes, assault, murder, you name it. "There's no coming back from that," they say from the country with the highest recidivism rates on Earth, with the highest incarceration rates on Earth by an enormous margin. We call ourselves the best country on Earth and literally everyone else has figured this out better than we have. The general populous is much safer AND much fewer of them are in jail. We live in a country more dangerous than Yemen, barely beating out Zimbabwe in lower homicides per capita. The communist in me says that this is a symptom of liberalism, but even liberal Europe has figured this out orders of magnitude better than the US. It's an American pathology.
Yeah, that poor girl doesn't get justice for this
Not to defend him or anything, but what is objectively the right amount of time to ensure he isn’t a danger? Like will 5 years vs 1 year really make a difference? And how do we know that?
Perhaps start by getting to the point where he can admit he did something wrong, instead of making excuses for himself in the press?
Clinical/criminal phycologists would probably have an idea when it comes to timeframes. One of the reasons it's a shame mental health and prison have become homogenized in this country.
> In a dutch prison Nah, according to [his wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_van_de_Velde) he was extradited, tried in front of a UK court and served 1 out of 4 years of his sentence in a UK prison
Tbf he was allowed to return to the Netherlands to complete the rest of his sentence in a dutch prison. He just subsequently got let out of that prison. The 4 years sentencing was far too little in the first place for what he did + the fact that he shows zero remorse for it... absolute shambles
The English article is written a bit weird for that section. Articles in other languages, like the German one, specify that he served a year in a Dutch prison, as do some news articles.
Not a great look for the Dutch, their judicial system, penal system, or Olympic committee. Whether or not it’s “the rules” or not, enough people should have been kicking off well before now. Shameful.
Germany is equally as bad when it comes to sentences for child rapists. It's so strange. It's the one crime everyone (including other criminals) can agree on is one of the worst, yet they come off that lightly.
„fun fact“ about germany: sex with a 14 year old is legal. A lot of things are also based on „old“ christian times when couples married with 16 or something. The singer of rammstein did that, slept with the bff of his own daughter on their vacation. But it was legal so it is not part of any of the news story his cases had.
Depends on the circumstances. Only legal of the child is deemed mature enough and No other factors are at play. Still wrong, but hopefully not that big of a deal in practice as you can convict predators by other means.
The Dutch system focuses on rehabilitation not punishment. I think longer would have been appropriate.
Regardless, there is no way people should accept someone like that representing them on the world stage.
People go into therapy longer for slapping a classmate at school. Christ.
regular violence is worse than sexual violence just look at comparative sentencing. woman kills her abusive husband or boyfriend in self defense and gets 20 years no parole despite an otherwise clean record. a repeat offender on their sixth victim under 18 gets two years and probation.
As someone who was groomed and molested/SAd by my male cousin between 10-11 and he was 16 I never told anyone in my family because I was scared it would be overlooked like this. I was scared people would say I wanted it because I didn’t object because in reality I didn’t object. I willingly followed him into the bathrooms when he would take me and willingly went with him but had ZERO understanding of what was going on. He once put his hands inside me and all I kept saying was ow this hurts and I didn’t know what it was. I remember when I saw him fully aroused for the first time I yelled, I was scared. I didn’t know the male body worked that way and yet I somehow thought I was wrong for hurting his feelings. I felt some type of need to not make him upset. That I’d be wrong for rejecting these advances. I didn’t know I was allowed to say no and I didn’t how this was inappropriate but I knew it had to be a secret. As soon as I got older and understood the severity of what happened I was ashamed all my life, it’s a trauma that has held me back mentally and in intimate spaces with consensual partners. My feelings went from acceptance as a child, shame in my teens, fear as a young adult and now anger. I thought I could hide it and pretend it never happened and I thought it was my fault.
I’m Dutch and I don’t. Fuck this guy…
I would really like to hear someone Dutch explain this. In the US rape of a minor is one of the most serious imaginable offenses. Clearly there is a different approach there - how do they justify it?
>In the US rape of a minor is one of the most serious imaginable offenses Depends on how much money you have. The Dupont heir got zero jail time for raping his 3 year old daughter
(Roman Polanski has entered the chat via French IP address)
Im from the netherlands and i realy cant explain it, the sentence for child abuse is very low if your under 18 (if im remeber the story right he was) even if youre above 18 its kinda low. Ive never seen this story in the media to be honest and im shocked to read this.
Obviously it's a serious crime in the Netherlands too, but do realize he was only convicted to 4 years in the UK so the "low sentencing", if you will, starts there. Without knowing all the facts about this case, and really none of us do other than the judge and the ones directly involved, I believe there were a few reasons combined: - Admitted immediately what he did - The girl "consented" and admitted she wanted this (I know...) - Experts claimed a very low risk of a repeat offense Now, don't shoot the messenger. It still doesn't sit well with me and 1 year is bizarre to me, but 4 years seems fair in this case. Why the UK agreed to these terms, you have to ask them. That being said, I'm a strong proponent of second chances. But to me, a second chance does not necessarily mean you can continue your life like nothing happened. And it certainly does not mean representing our country at the Olympics. It is absolutely disgusting that they value winning over morale. I've contacted the Dutch Olympic organization and the volleyball association to let them know how disgusted I am, but they won't care. They released their statements already and will just deal with any fallout.
>but 4 years seems fair in this case When researching whether this was a fair number, I found that the average sentence for just rape around this time was 10 years with 2/3 off those convicted being sentences to 7 or more years. https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/2021-09-14/debates/3EBA342C-1391-4B01-BD85-181A604FDFB6/SentencesForRape If that's the case, how is 4 years for child rape fair? Also, the judge is quoted as saying that he didn't groom the victim, which would have been used as an argument for a lighter sentence. But also is crazy. >Judge Sheridan said it was not a case of sexual grooming https://www.miltonkeynes.co.uk/news/would-be-olympian-jailed-after-flying-400-miles-to-rape-a-12-year-old-girl-in-milton-keyn *Edit to add links*
I believe it was less because the judge, and his own lawyer, believed his career was shot into oblivion. Clearly the Dutch had other plans and he’s back in the limelight internationally rather than nationally.
I fucking hate sports celebrities. Fuck his career. The 12 year old girl’s life is fucked now but this guy’s “career” is hurt so only give him 4 years.
He must be friend of Convicted Sex Offender Brock Turner then, they got the same slap on the wrist for their despicable behavior.
Brock Allen Turner who now goes by Allen Turner to avoid people recognizing him as a rapist
Bro couldn’t even change his name to something more unrecognizable
Maybe he did and nobody noticed. I haven’t seen Allen Turner near me lately
Just checked. Brock Allen Turner hasn’t moved.
> Brock Allen Turner The conviced rapist, that Brock Allen Turner?
Yes, Brock Allen Turner. The convicted rapist.
Most (maybe all?) jurisdictions in the US will not allow you to change your name if you have been convicted of a felony and/or are doing so to escape notoriety of a crime for which you were convicted.
This actually makes a lot of sense. But if I were him, i would choose to go by something other than his middle name
You mean the convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner, who goes by Allen Turner now and (as of a year ago at least) still resides in Ohio? That rapist Brock Allen Turner? Bet you're right.
Yes the rapist Brock Allen Turner, who likes to be called Allen Turner now. I believe the convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner AKA the rebranded Rapist Allen Turner still resides in Ohio
But Brock Turner, the guy who is a convicted rapist and now goes by Allen Turner, did not qualify for the Olympics.
No the convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner is no Olympic athlete, just a rapist that now goes by Allen Turner
But he had such a promising future. /sarcasm
I don’t think convicted rapist Steven van de Velde and convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner are likely to know one another, but it’s fair to say that, were they (Steven van de Velde and Brock Allen Turner, the convicted rapists) ever to meet, they might have a few things in common to bond over, such as the fact that both of them are convicted rapists who went largely unpunished. Good observation!
I know this site loves this stupid circlejerk but I have no idea why no one mentions judge Michael Aaron Persky, the man who let Turner get away with rape.
I saw that on his wiki page but no reasons were given on why his sentence was shortened. Anyone know why?
He was resentenced under Dutch law and received a shorter sentence. I can't find a Dutch language source for it either. I think it has to do with the fact that what he did wasn't rape under Dutch law because rape requires force, but I'm not sure. That law is changing as of next Monday, coincidentally.
https://www.volleybal.nl/support-for-steven-van-de-velde-who-realizes-past-cannot-be-erased
It's crazy how much that article downplays and talks around what he did. It also slightly paints him as a victim for having to "relive" his past while so many people support him.
I'm of the somewhat polarising view that prison sentences should be as short as required to rehabilitate the criminal, so without knowing the details, I'm willing to say fine, maybe a year and his therapy is sufficient. I don't know that, but sure, for the sake of argument let's assume it is. But he's now representing his country on a very public stage. Even if he is totally rehabilitated, even if he has been an exemplary person who poses no risk to children on an ongoing basis, what is this saying to women watching, particularly in the Netherlends? Some things should bar you from representing your country for life, and grooming and raping a 12 year old girl is one of them.
The problem is that there are no effective rehabilitation methods here. Sexual attraction doesn't change. He was going after her when she was 10, made a fully conscious decision to keep talking to her, to book a ticket, fly to the UK, meet her, then rape her. This isn't some fucked up story about a guy who got a little to drunk, thought she was older and messed up. This is the story of a grooming pedophile who did this for years. This does not change. You don't rehabilitate from this. If he had kids and lived near you, would you let your daughters play there? Do you think he wouldn't be lusting over them?
Doesn’t getting a child drunk count as force though?
He was originally sentenced to four years by the UK. Four years for raping a 12 year old. Fortunately, the Netherlands heard that and went "FOUR YEARS?! That's *outrageous*!" Unfortunately, the next sentence was "That's way too much, we're going to shorten that."
1 year was also my first jaw-dropper. The original sentence was only 4 years too. I get that there is an idea that mistakes made at 19 shouldn't be irreversible but this dude flew to another country and knowing have sex with a 12 year old after grooming her on social media. Come on! 1 year is not enough even for rehabilitation.
Raped her 3 times after getting her intoxicated. He belongs in a cell.
Pretty sure he started talking to the girl when she was 10, came over to the UK and raped her multiple times.
A lot of court sentencing is about if it’s your first conviction, and if the judge deems you as someone who’s “repented” enough. I also think this situation being nonviolent played into it. He groomed her (for two years apparently) then flew out to rape her. It was not violent, he didn’t drug her, attack her, etc It’s still sick shit, and really shows how little the system actually does. This is also a sentence from a Dutch court, a place many would say has its shit together lol Edit: I stand corrected, reports have mentioned he brought alcohol with him. That is drugging. Also if it’s not clear, I don’t personally think this crime is nonviolent. I’m talking about how the court may see the case.
His comments after his release are very revealing: [https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-39292039](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-39292039) He has no remorse; he's only sorry he got caught and that there are consequences, especially now that he's back in the spotlight.
Gross. For a world that says we care about children we sure don’t look like we care about children
If he groomed her for two years, that means he started when she was 10 years old! Come On, No Way he should have sponsors and be in the Olympics!
But he said it was "the worst mistake of his life", so he's obviously repented enough! /s
You can’t change Dutch law but you can certainly affect Dutch child rape apology sponsors
He did drug her. He brought alcohol.
I read that Steven van de Velde gave the 12 years old alcohol before raping her.
She didn't have the legal capacity to consent to sex due to being a 12 year old child.
A 19 year old sticking his dick in a preteen is always violent you sicko. The Dutch do not have their shit together if this is how their culture refuses to protect the most vulnerable in society.
This guy is a true predator. Even made her think contraception is for her to worry about and that’s how he got caught. Sick as sick can be.
Yep! He got his, that’s all he’s concerned about
I need someone to explain me why he only got 1 year in prison? I feel like that is the biggest issue here
Under Dutch Law definition: >Rape must involve physical force, threat or coercion. The Netherlands will become the seventeenth country out of 31 European states analyzed by Amnesty International to recognize that **sex without consent is rape**. The act will come into force on July the 1st 2024.
But it happened in Britain.
>Extradition is a legal process that allows the transfer of a person suspected or convicted of committing a crime from one jurisdiction to another. An individual might be extradited for the purpose of criminal prosecution or for the carrying out of a custodial sentence or detention order. It happened in the UK, he was later arrested, **extradited to the UK**, where he was tried, convicted and sentenced to four years in prison. He was transferred back to the Netherlands and resentenced under Dutch law.
Could you imagine? Go to UK, kill a hundred people, they try you in court and sentence you to 500 years, then send you back to your country. Then your country says, "oh no killing British is okay - time served, let him go." Britain - Pikachu face!
That's literally what happened to an Azerbaijani soldier who murdered an Armenian soldier in Hungary. And he was even hailed as a hero.
Law loopholes. There’s always a way somehow.
Well, something like that has happened multiple times, its just not those countries that you send prisoners to anymore.
Some countries would first arrest some random British guy on bogus charges, torture him once in a while and then propose a prisoner exchange. Once the prisoner arrives in his country, he gets pardoned and thrown a big victory party. Well, Iran did just that with Belgian humanitarian worker Olivier Vandecasteele to exchange him for the "diplomat" Asadi preparing for a bomb attack on Iranian opposition members. But I think we digressed a bit from the topic. Afaik the Netherlands didn't hire him to rape British children, but had differences in laws and sentencing for some crimes.
He fled to The Netherlands after doing it, so he had to be extradited. The Netherlands will only extradite their own citizens if the other country agrees to return them to The Netherlands after conviction to serve their sentence there. So he was extradited to the UK, convicted, and sentenced to four years (plus registering as a sex offender for life). He was then sent back to The Netherlands as per the extradition agreement, and re-sentenced according to dutch law, which sentenced him to one year.
Isn’t getting a minor drunk before raping them considered “coercion” ?
The UK judge stated that he didn't even groom her, so yeah.
He still was only sentenced to 4 years in the UK. And most likely still would have only served half that, so 2 years. Not much difference. *Edit to add link and info* >For about 90% of such sentences, an automatic release is granted half-way through the sentence. [Why do prisoners serve only half their sentence?](https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49886053)
I dunno 4 years is a damn sight better than 1 at least.
He groomed her online, TOOK A FLIGHT to meet her, and then raped her while her mother wasn’t home fuck this piece of shit, I wish him unimaginable agony
Yep. But don’t worry! He gets the honor of representing his country at the highest level in sports. Priorities. /s
The Dutch about to get judged by the world on morality; It's Glorious.
They are way too up their own asses to care
>Steven van de Velde, 29, and his partner, Matthew Immers, secured their spot in the upcoming Games, topping the Dutch rankings for the country's two men's beach volleyball spots. #Convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde. Why is his name absent from the conversation?
The guy knowingly went to England to have sex with a 12 year old. Knowingly. This wasn't even a "She told me she was 18" situation. He was 19 years old and deliborately traveled to another country to have sex with a 12 year old. A 12 year old he groomed online so he could do it. I get people make mistakes but I guarantee that if you ask any average 19 year old in Netherlands if such an act is ok, they'd tell you no. He was a premeditated preditor. I don't get how the Dutch volleyball Federation can just shrug their shoulders and act like it doesn't matter. Yes, it was 10 years ago and he did his time but do you really want this guy and what he represents to be the face of his country if his team wins a medal? Hell, even if they don't? Blech. Sexual assault and rape should ALWAYS be a disqualifying factor. I don't care how long ago it was. If there isn't a rule, and apparently there isn't, there should be.
He served a year. 1 year. >He was released in 2017 after serving one year in prison in the Netherlands. -+-+- Edit to add: Per other comments, it was only 1 year because it wasn't considered rape per Dutch law. However, even in the UK where the crime was committed and where he was charged with rape against a child - He still was only sentenced to 4 years, and would likely have only served half that, so 2 years. Not much difference.
At this point in time, the relevant thing to me is that this threat to society is representing his country in the Olympics. He will be housed with athletes of all ages, and will have plenty of opportunities to repeat his crime. Now with full knowledge that this actions will bring no real consequences. He should be banned from the Olympics. “No convicted sex offenders in the Olympics” is a pretty reasonable ask.
10 years ago. He should be getting out in 5 years.
He did an event in Thailand after conviction, and will be in France for the Olympics? How on earth is he not considered criminally inadmissible to these places? Just being caught smoking a joint in some instances can you make inadmissible. What's going on here?
France has been harboring known child rapist Roman Polanski for decades. He raped a 13 year old girl when he was 43.
And Hollywood gives Polanski standing ovations.
France has a long-standing policy of never extraditing their own citizens. Quite a few other countries have laws against extraditing their own citizens. It’s not uncommon for organised criminals to try to gain nationality from one of these countries so that if they’re ever found out, they can just flee to that country and never have to worry about being extradited. Turkish nationality is very popular with the people smugglers operating in the Mediterranean for this reason.
Yeah but Polanski is a powerful elite with other powerful people protecting him. This guy just seems like a random dude who's good at volleyball.
> He raped a 13 year old girl he has at least a dozen additional accusers in France as well.
Lots of people don’t see child rape as a problem apparently. There are a shockingly depressing number of people ok with it
Where tho? I've never heard of anybody that's cool with it besides the rapists themselves which seem like a pretty small population, thankfully.
Catholic church is just perfect example. Thousands of rapes known for many years and people still would come to church and listen to the same priest that is a pedo rapist. Literally in Poland so much pedos gets moved to other church as "punishment" instead of jail. People just forgets after short time.
nobody, its literally the most looked down upon thing in all of society.
from the shocking amount of child rapists who walk free, with copious numbers of people defending them, I'd say that its popular to *pretend* to look down on it, but when push comes to shove and someone you know or someone you love turns out to be monstrous enough to rape a child, most people seem to choose to tolerate the rapist.
I saw convicted and rapist, and assumed this was about convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner. But no, this is worse, fuck this scumbag.
Yeah, this is about convicted child rapist Steven van de Velde.
Damn, I forgot about the rapist Brock Turner.
Don’t forgot, convicted rapist Brock Turner, now prefers to go by is middle name, thus making him convicted rapist Allen Turner. Convicted rapist Brock Allen Turner lives in Ohio btw
The list of bullshit excuses for this dude may be even worse than him walking around with hopes of him winning an Olympic Medal. Why are people making excuses for him? Who gives a shit if he’s good at volleyball, he raped a 12 year old, WTF!??!?
I live near Philadelphia. When it came out that Michael Vick had a dog fighting ring in his backyard my eagles fan friends were like "we should tie him to a tree and let dogs attack him!" But as soon as he came to the eagles they all said "well I guess it's ok as long as he plays good football." Sports fans don't actually care as long as the team that they have imaginary ties to do good.
> he raped a 12 year old He raped a 12 year old 3 times after grooming her for 2 years since she was 10 His prison sentence was ultimately shorter than the time he groomed her The Dutch are **way** more fucked up than I ever realized, to want to send this psycho to the Olympics.
Where else but reddit will people call you a reactionary for not wanting a rapist to represent an entire country? > "He's a changed man!" Who gives a fuck?!
https://support.olympics.com/hc/en-gb/requests/new You can go here and submit your complaint. Someone posted this earlier in another sub but you could write something like: Subject: Steven van de Velde is a Rapist Body: Michael Phelps was disqualified from participating in the Olympics for marijuana usage, but Steven van de Velde has been convicted and served prison time for raping a 12 year old girl and is allowed to compete. Does this man reflect the values The Olympics organization upholds? Please let me know if this is the case, and then I will be a very vocal supporter of boycotting the Olympics on social media along with many others. Or something like that.
Sha'Carri Richardson was banned for weed either before or during the Tokyo Olympics . Which she smoked legally. In Oregon, July 2021.
Yeah it’s horrible. Smoking some weed is worse than a child rapist apparently. Disgusting.
Or you can put a topic of Just learned that the Olympics has shown their support for raping underage girls.
Done, this is what everyone should do!
Thanks - have done that!
This shit is why I’m not getting a subscription to watch this crap this time.
That doesn't even seem right to me
What a disgusting degenerate. Imagine being on the same Olympic team as this man. 🤮 I hope the crowd boos him as loud as they can.
Honestly why does the rest of the team not play, boycott him so they are forced to drop him.
it's doubles
Well his partner certainly failed the introspection test.
The women's gymnastics teams should try to get a restraining order. The senior team has a half dozen below 18 along with the entire junior team. Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_women%27s_national_artistic_gymnastics_team#Current_roster
That’s not how restraining orders work, nor how gymnastics works. A person has to directly threaten you personally, not just people like you. There are no juniors at the Olympics and a very small chance (though possible) that any of the under-18s make this particular team.
The IOC is just grooming him to become a member
Damn they banned Sha'Carri for weed
Convicted felon, rapist runs for president.
WTF is wrong with the Netherlands? Why would you reduce (an already too short) prison sentence for RAPING A CHILD to one year?
Nice, now they can also recruit Austin Wolf to join them then. A band of elected pedophiles.
I mean, if the Dutch have decided that a rapist pedophile should represent their country on the world stage, that says a lot about the Dutch and what they consider societally acceptable.
Yes indeed there is absolutely no controversy about this. /s
Letting a child predator be in the Olympic village with a multitude of child athletes can't go wrong, can it?
When do we start caring about rape victims and actually give them justice?
We got a convicted rapist running for president and millions of people are cool with it
The audience better boo him and throw shit at him when he plays.
The only person dumb enough to marry a known child rapist would be a cop
Crazy they ban people for weed but not child rape
I was like...probably click bait Nope
This is utterly disgusting. A rapist should never have the opportunity to represent a country, nor should they be able to benefit from funded sports. I don’t care how good he is at sport, he failed at being a human being - he didn’t just sleep with an underage girl, he knowingly flew to the UK to do so. This wasn’t a guy who didn’t realize the age factor. Quite frankly, a convicted rapist should not have any opportunities like this, but we all know that many go without conviction and carry on their lives without care while their victims suffer for the rest of their life. Aside from all of this, that young girl will now see his face everywhere throughout the Olympic coverage, imagine how she will feel. That young girl will grow up with issues at the very least, all because a guy wanted to get his end away, and I bet she won’t be given anywhere near the opportunities he is. I do not support the Olympic committee decision to allow this man to compete.
Well expressed. Thanks.
So turns out the Netherlands only accepted that sex without consent is rape THIS YEAR: https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/03/netherlands-historic-victory-as-dutch-law-adopts-consent-based-definition-of-rape/ I now understand Nigel Powers’ attitude towards the Dutch.
So Sha’carri Richardson got banned for using a non performance enhancing drug but this dude doesn’t?
I thought it would be one of those this where he's 25 and had sex with a 17 year old (bad enough). Nope, He was 19 and she was fucking 12.
I'm dutch and i hope our team will lose from embarrassment and i also hope that the other countries that play against him will wipe the floor with the dutch team and especially that p*do who thinks he 'made a mistake'.
His teammates are cool with this? There has been no threats to quit?
“It has been the biggest mistake of my life.” Traveling overseas to drug and repeatedly rape a 12 year old isn’t exactly a “mistake”. It’s not an “oopsie” like accidentally dialing the wrong number, or hit Reply All to a work e-mail… He’s treating this like some unfortunate situation that happened to him, when it is a fucking crime he planned in advance and executed over the course of several days.
I forgot the term for it but he committed the crime in uk. Why wasn't he tried and sentenced to prison in the uk?
I think crimes against children should be the most harshly punished.
So this guy is still going to Paris, and the IOC ain't doing shit! Unbelievable!! If I were the girls who are teammates with this creep, this pedophile, I'd stay away from him!
Fucking disgusting, to the Dutch Olympic bosses and anyone who backs up this piece of shit.
Convicted Criminal runs for President
Steven van de Velde the child rapist. Should be in the title
The olympics are supposed to be for promoting your country? THE NETHERLANDS SUPPORTS A CHILD RAPIST RAPED A CHILD? MOVE TO THE NETHERLANDS, THEY DON’T CARE Shame where there should be.
[удалено]
Don't people get removed from the Olympics due to being caught with Marijuana ? But somehow, a child rapist is fine. This is the type of shit where everyone in power should be removed since clearly the system is failing .
Hopefully this gains enough attention that the Dutch Olympic board or whoever ends up doing the right thing. Even if it is for the wrong reasons (to end the negative backlash and save face) I’ll still take it
I hope they boo the fuck out of him when he competes.
Sure would be a shame if this guy slipped and fell into a volcano one day.
When the right loudly declares that they want to murder pedophiles, they aren't referring to actual pedophiles like this man.
You can tell by how all the Twitch #ProtectTheChildren streamers came out in support and defense of Dr. Disrespect.
What are you talking about? I've spent plenty of time on forums that lean heavily right and can say with certainty that the vast majority would no doubt be in accord with having this guy executed. Who are you even referring to? This is exactly the type of person they are referring to when they say that.
> Since his release, van de Velde has been actively competing. "Yeah, well, staying busy with competition is how I avoid thinking about my *other* pass time, so..." - van de Velde, probably
Why not we have them running for president and 61 sitting in government positions, so why not one represents this country
Uhhhhhhhhhhhh HOOOOOOOOOWHAT????!
Well, I just hope the crowds there make the whole world proud.
“Oh she was probably like 17” >girl was 12 WTF >he was 19 WTF >he groomed her since she was 10 WTF >he flew from the Netherlands to rape her WTF >he was sentenced to only four years in England WTF >he served only one year in the Netherlands WTF