Volleyball player convicted of rape ready for Olympics

A beach volleyball player who was jailed for raping a 12-year-old British girl will represent the Netherlands at the Olympic Games in Paris.

Steven van de Velde, now 29, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after admitting three counts of raping a child in August 2014.

Van de Velde, who met his victim on Facebook, travelled from Amsterdam to the UK and raped the girl at an address in Milton Keynes.

He was allowed to serve his sentence in the Netherlands, but was released after only 12 months.

Van de Velde subsequently resumed his volleyball career and has been participating in international tournaments since 2018 “after an intensive, professionally supervised process”, according to the Dutch Olympic Committee (NOC).

Together with his partner Matthew Immers, he has qualified for the Olympic Games in his national duo.

The Netherlands Olympic Committee (NOC) told BBC Sport: “After his release, Van de Velde sought and received professional guidance. He showed those around him – privately and professionally – self-awareness and reflection.”

According to the NOC, Van de Velde’s return to the sport meets the guidelines drawn up by the Dutch Volleyball Association (NeVoBo) in the organisation’s ‘Guidelines Integrity File’. This sets out the conditions under which athletes may participate in the sport again after a conviction.

It says he meets “all qualification criteria for the Olympic Games.”

In interviews with Dutch media, Van de Velde previously said: “I can’t undo it anymore, so I will have to bear the consequences. It was the biggest mistake of my life.”

In a statement from the NOC, Van de Velde said: “In 2016 and afterwards, several Dutch media outlets also paid attention to the story. I understand that this could attract the attention of international media in the run-up to the largest sporting event in the world.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the Dutch Volleyball Federation and the International Volleyball Federation have been asked for comment.