Steven van de Velde
| Steven van de Velde | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Van de Velde in 2020 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Nationality |  Netherlands | ||
| Born | 8 August 1994 The Hague, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 6 ft 6 in (1.99 m) | ||
| Beach volleyball information | |||
| |||
| Conviction(s) | Rape (4 counts) | ||
| Criminal penalty | Four years in prison | ||
Capture status | Released on licence after serving one year | ||
| Details | |||
| Victims | 12-year-old girl | ||
| Date | 2 August 2014 | ||
Steven van de Velde (born 8 August 1994) is a Dutch beach volleyball player. He is a convicted child rapist and has been placed on the sex offender registry in the United Kingdom for life since 2016.[1] He has qualified for the 2024 Summer Olympics, with the Dutch Olympic Committee standing by their nomination despite his criminal record for sex crimes.[2]
Volleyball career
Van de Velde won the Under-20 Dutch National Championships in 2011.[3] With partner Michiel van Dorsten he represented the Netherlands at the 2015 European Games. Together with partner Dirk Boehlé, he finished third at the Blooming Beach Aalsmeer of the 2018 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour.[4]
Child rape
In August 2014, he raped a 12-year-old child he met on Facebook who lived in Milton Keynes, England. He travelled to her home and, when she was without any parental supervision, gave her alcohol and then raped her several times at the home as well as in a nearby lake.[5] The victim would eventually go on to self-harm and once overdosed.[6] Van de Velde returned to the Netherlands after the rape, although he was eventually extradited to the United Kingdom and arrested in January 2016.[7]
Sentencing and release
In March 2016, Van de Velde pleaded guilty to four counts of rape and was placed on the Violent and Sex Offender Register for life, the sex offender registry in the United Kingdom. At his sentencing, the judge presiding over his case was quoted as having said "Your hopes of representing your country (as an Olympic athlete) now lie as a shattered dream".[8] He was to serve four years in a British prison by the Aylesbury Crown Court.[9]
After serving a year of his four year sentence, he was released from prison and returned to the Netherlands. The Dutch Volleyball Association allowed him to resume his career as a beach volleyball player, and he returned to playing with his teammate Dirk Boehlé. The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) condemned his comments and early release at the time, stating that his "lack of remorse and self-pity is breathtaking".[7]
Later comments
Van de Velde returned to international competition in 2018, when he excused himself in an interview, saying that he (aged 19 at the time of the rapes): "made that choice in my life when I wasn't ready, I was a teenager still figuring things out. I was sort of lost".[10] He has since described it as "the biggest mistake of [his] life"; British newspaper The Telegraph contrasted this with the statements he made upon his release in 2017, in which he railed against being described "as a sex monster, as a paedophile"[11] and said comments made about his crime were "nonsense".[1]
Personal life
He is married to Kim van de Velde (née Behrens), a German volleyball player who studied psychology and trained to become a police officer.[12][13] They have one child.[14] His brother-in-law is VfL Wolfsburg and Germany international footballer Kevin Behrens.[15]
References
- ^ a b Brown, Oliver (25 June 2024). "Dutch volleyball player who raped 12-year-old British girl qualifies for Paris Olympics". The Telegraph. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ "Volleyball player convicted of rape set for Olympics". BBC News. 26 June 2024. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ Voorburg, 10 August 2011 pagr 12
- ^ Blooming Beach Aalsmeer | Men - Main draw Archived 2024-06-26 at the Wayback Machine, FIVB.org
- ^ "Dutch beach volleyball star given four-year jail term for rape". Bucks Herald. 22 March 2016. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ "Netherlands rapist of girl, 12, to compete at 2024 Paris Olympics". The Australian. 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ a b "Rapist Steven Van de Velde's remarks condemned by NSPCC". BBC News. 17 March 2017. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 26 June 2024.
- ^ "Dutch Volleyball player Steven van de Velde, convicted of raping 12-year-old, qualifies for Paris Olympics". The Times of India. 2024-06-27. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
- ^ "Dutch volleyball player jailed for raping girl, 12, he met on Facebook". BBC News. 21 March 2016. Archived from the original on 26 June 2024. Retrieved 8 June 2016.
- ^ "Convicted child rapist picked for Olympics team". Nine. 2024-06-27. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
- ^ Brown, Oliver (2024-06-27). "Dutch Olympics committee defends selection of volleyball player who raped 12-year-old British girl". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2024-06-27.
- ^ Klingovsky, Jochen (30 June 2023). "Beachvolleyballerin Kim van de Velde: Bikinihosen bessern das Budget auf". Stuttgarter Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ Ludwig, Mirko (22 July 2013). "Kim Behrens vollführt Spagat zwischen Leistungsport und Dienst". Westfälische Nachrichten (in German). Archived from the original on 8 March 2017. Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ Dorow, Olaf (15 December 2022). "Beachvolleyball: Das Comeback der Kim van de Velde". Weser Kurier (in German). Retrieved 27 June 2024.
- ^ Hofmann, Tina (26 June 2024). "Aufruhr vor den Olympischen Spielen: Verurteilter Vergewaltiger fährt nach Paris". TAG24 (in German). Retrieved 27 June 2024.
External links
- 1994 births
- Living people
- Dutch men's beach volleyball players
- European Games competitors for the Netherlands
- Beach volleyball players at the 2015 European Games
- 21st-century Dutch people
- Sportspeople from The Hague
- Dutch sportspeople convicted of crimes
- Dutch people convicted of child sexual abuse
- Dutch rapists
- Prisoners and detainees of the United Kingdom