The Dutch beach volleyball player who served time in prison after he was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl in England has won his second match at the Paris Olympics.

Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who served time in prison after he was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl, won his second match at the Paris Olympics and received an even harsher reaction from the crowd on Wednesday than for his first match.

  • Humanius@lemmy.worldEnglish
    757·
    4 months ago

    So they can bitch that people booed, but he won’t acknowledge the reason is he raped a literal child?

    Mathew Immers is not the guy who raped the child. That is Steven van de Velde.
    Immers is van de Velde’s beach volleyball partner.

    • killingspark@feddit.orgEnglish
      25·
      4 months ago

      He is complaining that the crowd booed his partner. The partner he chose to play with. But he won’t recognize that the reason the pair is being booed is that one of the partners is a child rapist. I think it’s fair to think that that is bad.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
        391·
        4 months ago

        Yes, Immers is the same as Emmanual Goldstein, an unseen character in the novel 1984 who did not even exist but was famous for having refused to discuss a controversy where his teammate repeatedly raped a child.

        • SirDerpy@lemmy.worldEnglish
          431·
          4 months ago

          What was the sentence for his crime?

          Do all nations have the same focus on rehabilitation as the US prison system?

          Is it possible for an individual to commit such an act and reform themselves, perhaps even earn the trust of society again?

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
            46·
            4 months ago

            He served one year in the UK for raping a 12-year-old multiple times. Then, through a treaty, he was extradited to the Netherlands and served no more time at all. He called the whole thing nonsense when the press asked him about it.

            Please do tell us how that is a fair punishment for raping a 12 year old multiple times.

          • Snowclone@lemmy.worldEnglish
            111·
            4 months ago

            The US does not have a rehabilitation prison system. We don’t really have a justice system, we have a vengeance system and a torture prison system. I don’t think prison should be torture or a slave plantation for any convict in any case. Although our property crime sentencing is overly harsh and violent crimes against a person are far to lenient. I think rapists need to be removed from society more than anything else, it should be up there with murder one. Also I think most non violent convicts could be on house arrest, work, pay taxes, and not be vengefully tortured.

            • SirDerpy@lemmy.worldEnglish
              412·
              4 months ago

              I’m only intolerant of intolerance. That means I’ll forgive murderers and rapists once they’ve completed their punishment and rehabilitation. But, I also understand that my perspective on forgiveness isn’t common.

              • njm1314@lemmy.worldEnglish
                122·
                4 months ago

                Except you’re not forgiving them once they’ve had their punishment and Rehabilitation. As pointed out this child rapist is unremorsful. He was neither punished nor rehabilitated. He’s an unrepentant child rapist. That’s who you’re defending.

              • Kalysta@lemm.eeEnglish
                5·
                4 months ago

                A year for multiple rapes if a 12 year old is barely a sentence, no matter what justice system you’re in. And he’s clearly not even sorry.

                • SirDerpy@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  35·
                  4 months ago

                  A year for multiple rapes if a 12 year old is barely a sentence, no matter what justice system you’re in.

                  I agree. He voluntarily did more, though.

                  And he’s clearly not even sorry.

                  When? Before he voluntarily did more, or afterwards?

                  Rape isn’t alcoholism. For some it’s maybe like heroin. But, I’ve not had a drink in more than a decade and know a heroin addict with more time under his belt. People can change.

                  After he screwed up someone’s life then did more than his sentence, he seems OK to everyone he’s engaging with now. So, I wonder if I’d forgive him if I met him IRL. It’s easier to judge him without nuance hypothetically, when there’s no consequences for doing so. If I met him I’d hopefully be strong enough give him a chance.

                  • Kalysta@lemm.eeEnglish
                    21·
                    4 months ago

                    And his victim, who has self harmed after he hurt her, gets to watch him live his best life at the olympics.

                    No. That’s not ok.

          • Humanius@lemmy.worldEnglish
            116·
            4 months ago

            So I’m not overly familiar, but I can try to summarize what I know.

            Steven van de Velde is a Dutchman who went to the UK and raped a 12 year-old. He was sentenced to four years in prison for this by a UK court. Later he was extradited to the Netherlands, so he could sit out his sentence in the NL. However in the Netherlands, unlike the UK, sex with a minor is not automatically considered rape and needs to be proven in court. (Note: That is my understanding of the difference in interpretation) Because of this his conviction was reduced to “ontucht”, meaning sexual misconduct. (Even though what he did would probably also be considered rape in Dutch court).
            As a result, he was out of prison after 13 months.

            Now, Dutch attitude to these kinds of things, in my experience, is generally (but not always) that if you have paid your time, and have shown remorse for your actions, then it should probably not affect your future career prospects. The justice system is supposed to rehabilitate after all. (That is my experience though, and my experience may be biased, so don’t take this as gospel)

            Hart van Nederland did a survey, and apparently only 27% of respondents think he should not be allowed to compete. 63% of respondents think he should be allowed to compete, and 10% don’t have an opinion either way. (Note that Hart van Nederland is not the most reliable of sources, but it gives an indication)

            From what I have seen in Dutch circles this controversy is a lot less pronounced than it is in other countries. That’s not to say it is entirely uncontroversial, but it’s not quite to the same degree as I’m seeing internationally.

            Personal opinion:

            I don’t think his sentence should have been lowered to “ontucht”. I think what he did is morally reprehensible, and he should have sat out the full sentence for raping a minor. That is a failure on behalf of the justice system though, and van de Velde is not personally to blame for that.

            That said, given that he has shown remorse for his actions, and has finished the sentence that the legal system imposed on him, I don’t think he should have been barred from competing in the Olympics on behalf of the Dutch team.

            Edit: As Flying Squid mentioned I might be mistaken that he has shown genuine remorse.
            If he hasn’t that changes my opinion on the matter.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
              233·
              4 months ago

              given that he has shown remorse for his actions,

              Remorse?

              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.[1][20] At the same time he stated not yet having read any of the reporting he was criticizing.[21] The National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) in Britain condemned his comments at the time, stating that his “lack of remorse and self-pity is breathtaking”.[15]

              Return to sport

              Van de Velde returned to international competition in 2018. He excused himself in an interview, saying about the rapes that occurred when he was 19-years-old, that he: “made that choice in my life when I wasn’t ready, I was a teenager still figuring things out. I was sort of lost”.[22] He has since described it as “the biggest mistake of [his] life”.[23]

              The Dutch Volleyball Association allowed him to resume his career as a beach volleyball player. In 2024, he was controversially selected to represent the Netherlands in the 2024 Summer Olympics.[24] However, in order to “establish calm”, the Dutch Olympic Committee isolated van de Velde from the rest of the Dutch team, and barred him from talking to media.[25] An online petition calling for his removal from the Olympics had 80,000 supporters.[26]

              His “remorse” was over getting caught. He has never offered the slightest bit of apology to the victim.

              • Humanius@lemmy.worldEnglish
                81·
                4 months ago

                If he hasn’t shown genuine remorse than changes my stance.
                Given what I had read on the matter I was under the impression he had shown remorse. Particularly the “biggest mistake of [his] life” remark.

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldMEnglish
                  102·
                  4 months ago

                  True remorse would involve an apology to the victim. At least I think most people would think so.

                  • idiomaddict@lemmy.worldEnglish
                    55·
                    4 months ago

                    I disagree with that. There’s no need to put the victim on the spot like that. True remorse definitely doesn’t involve rejecting culpability like that though.

            • SirDerpy@lemmy.worldEnglish
              76·
              4 months ago

              That squid guy is quite ridiculous. He regularly throws reason out the window to feed his ego by bashing whomever he can pass shallow judgement upon.

              “Not to excuse it in any way but this took place, I think, 10 years ago and I think, as a general rule I think we need to allow for the possibility of rehabilitation,” Mark Adams said at the IOC’s news conference on the day of van de Velde’s debut.

              That’s where I think the mob goes wrong. Rape is a pretty big mistake. But, the best people I know today are that way in total rejection of who they once were. They’ve never brought it up. I confront them when I see myself in them.

              Van de Velde was given a four-year sentence in 2016.

              …at the time of his sentencing that he appeared via video link at Aylesbury Crown Court and wept as he heard his victim ended up self-harming and taking an overdose.

              After serving part of his jail term in England, he was sent back to the Netherlands where his sentence was adjusted according to Dutch laws.

              …after his release had sought professional counselling.

              His actions seem to demonstrate compliance and remorse.

              The Dutch volleyball federation (Nevobo) said van de Velde was “proving to be an exemplary professional and human being and there has been no reason to doubt him since his return”.

              Meanwhile, the country’s Olympic committee said van de Velde had met all the qualification requirements for the Olympic Games “and is therefore part of the team”.

              Source

              Those empowered to judge him have judged him forgiven.

              On what basis should we believe differently?

            • SirDerpy@lemmy.worldEnglish
              12·
              3 months ago

              We could find a stupid or good reason to discard each and every individual. Humans are deeply flawed. I need not conveniently bash this talented man to feel good about myself. I chose the more difficult and quite unpopular position of forgiveness.

              You’re seemingly the only person who understood. You’re true to your username. I liked how you didn’t assign him responsibility for the perceived failure of the justice system. I think it was the critical thing that needed said when saying that he did more than what was mandated. Thank you for speaking up.

              Reason wins because propaganda has a much shorter half life.