Holland volleyball player convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl may still win a medal at the Paris Olympics

“How did we get to a point where the rape of a child is less important than the medal someone can win at the Olympics? It is simply astonishing,” a British human rights advocate pointed out.

Steven van de Velde can step onto the court with the Dutch beach volleyball team at the Paris Olympics, despite being convicted in 2016 of raping a 12-year-old British girl – as reported by The Guardian.

As the newspaper informs, the now 29-year-old athlete met the girl on Facebook in 2014, knowing exactly how old she was. He traveled to England to meet her, and when they met, he raped her. The girl was so traumatized that after the incident, she engaged in self-harm and at one point overdosed.

In 2016, Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in the UK, of which he served only one, before being transferred to the Netherlands, where he was released after an additional month.

“Before you came to this country, you were a potential Olympian. The hope of representing your country has now evaporated,” the judge quoted by the newspaper said in the trial’s verdict.

How is it possible for a rapist to make it to the Olympics?

According to the BBC, the Dutch Olympic Committee’s position is that “the athlete” has served his sentence, participated in a program created for offenders like him, where they believe he has shown “full remorse and cooperation.”

“We have to respect this and help him perform well as a member of the team,” the Dutch Olympic Committee’s statement reads.

Iara Bergman, the chief executive of Rape Crisis England & Wales, believes that allowing Van de Velde to participate in the Olympics is “irresponsible” and creates a sense of “impunity.”

“If you can rape a child and still compete in the Olympics, despite every athlete signing a declaration pledging to live an exemplary life, it is simply shocking,” she added. British human rights advocates have called on the International Olympic Committee to investigate.

How did we get here? How did we get to a point where the rape of a child is less important than the medal someone can win at the Olympics? It is simply astonishing,” Bergman emphasized.