Steven van de Velde convicted rapist & paedophile competes

[Silas Loom]

Many of us here do know at least some of what others have or haven't achieved in their lives, and also know the sort of ridiculous or outlandish claims that others are prone to make.

Which is why no-one should presume to argue with Spy, whose yearly published observations as chair of his local cricket club resonate throughout the game, about the pressures and hard choices at the very top of sports administration.

 

[Dystopiary]

I can't even imagine how shit this must have been for his victim and the victims of similar crimes - I think the fact that he competed in the Olympics, knowing full well the kind of news stories that would have emerged, contradicts his claims to be deeply ashamed and remorseful, I hope we never hear anything about Steven Van de Velde ever again

Did he say he was remorseful?

He's said all this stuff about it being a dark time in his life, "the biggest mistake", and wanting to put it behind him, but not a hint of contrition.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Would it comfort you to know that there is a sex offenders register in the Netherlands?

Considering said register doesn't seem to bar anyone from representing their country at a major international event, no not really.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Show of hands, who here would compete on a team that also had a child rapist on it?

Because that's the question isn't it. All those Netherlands athletes were faced with that decision and said, yeah fuck it why not. I've already practiced and everything.

 

[AnnaKarpik]

Considering said register doesn't seem to bar anyone from representing their country at a major international event, no not really.

Being on a sex offenders register wouldn't bar anyone in this country from representing their country, the apparently insatiable public appetite for revenge would do that.

 

[StoneRoad]

Thought I would investigate some of the background ... and found a few details in the BBC item from March 2016 about the offences - which took place in 2014.

Dutch volleyball player jailed for raping girl, 12, he met on Facebook

A Dutch volleyball star who admitted travelling to Milton Keynes and raping a 12-year-old girl he met on Facebook is jailed.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[AnnaKarpik]

Show of hands, who here would compete on a team that also had a child rapist on it?

Because that's the question isn't it. All those Netherlands athletes were faced with that decision and said, yeah fuck it why not. I've already practiced and everything.

The Dutch sex offenders register is not public.

 

[Silas Loom]

Show of hands, who here would compete on a team that also had a child rapist on it?

Because that's the question isn't it. All those Netherlands athletes were faced with that decision and said, yeah fuck it why not. I've already practiced and everything.

Being on the Dutch beach volleyball team involves greater moral compromise than representing the Netherlands in synchronised skateboarding. Which do you mean?

 

[Silas Loom]

Thought I would investigate some of the background ... and found a few details in the BBC item from March 2016 about the offences - which took place in 2014.

Dutch volleyball player jailed for raping girl, 12, he met on Facebook

A Dutch volleyball star who admitted travelling to Milton Keynes and raping a 12-year-old girl he met on Facebook is jailed.

www.bbc.co.uk

Mitigating, Linda Strudwick said: "There is genuine remorse. He has lost a stellar sports career and has been branded a rapist. Plainly it is a career end for him. "

Plainly . . .

 

[trashpony]

The other athletes shouldn’t have to make a sacrifice. He should never have been put forward for selection.

 

[andysays]

Which is why no-one should presume to argue with Spy, whose yearly published observations as chair of his local cricket club resonate throughout the game, about the pressures and hard choices at the very top of sports administration.

I am certainly not suggesting that no-one should argue with Spymaster or anyone else, but at least try to argue with what has been said rather than some distorted misrepresentation.

 

[Spymaster]

The other athletes shouldn’t have to make a sacrifice. He should never have been put forward for selection.

But there has to be consensus at Olympic/international level, not national level.

The Dutch have fielded a competitor with a rape conviction, whilst the Japanese have sent one of theirs home for smoking.

 

[hash tag]

But there has to be consensus at Olympic/international level, not national level.

The Dutch have fielded a competitor with a rape conviction, whilst the Japanese have sent one of theirs home for smoking.

Canadian football coach sent home and banned for a year for cheating ( using a drone ).
Priestman 'heartbroken' by drone scandal as funding pulled - Paris Olympics 2024: Canada football drone scandal - Bev Priestman 'heartbroken for players'

 

[Spymaster]

Show of hands, who here would compete on a team that also had a child rapist on it?

How about asking who, having trained for 6 hours a day, 365 days a year, for at least 3 years and probably far longer; should have all that taken away because they happen to be from the same country as some prick they have nothing else to do with?

 

[SpookyFrank]

I am certainly not suggesting that no-one should argue with Spymaster or anyone else, but at least try to argue with what has been said rather than some distorted misrepresentation.

He said I've no right to an opinion because I've never achieved anything in my life. Tricky to misrepresent that as a reasonable and on-topic remark.

He also claimed he'd known me 15 years which is false, he doesn't know me from Adam.

 

[SpookyFrank]

The Dutch sex offenders register is not public.

So they didn't know, and that's their excuse?

Odd then that we In the UK did know. Almost as if the information we're in the public domain and widely reported.

 

[Spymaster]

He said I've no right to an opinion because I've never achieved anything in my life.

No I didn’t. I suggested that, as so often has been the case for over 15 years, your opinion is worthless.

You have every right to hold it.

 

[AnnaKarpik]

So they didn't know, and that's their excuse?

Odd then that we In the UK did know. Almost as if the information we're in the public domain and widely reported.

I have looked into the criminal history of colleagues, friends and acquaintances precisely zero times, nor have I pored over every story of rape in the UK and memorised the names; not particularly unusual. I have no idea what his team-mates did or didn't know, neither do you. I don't know what they think about their team-mate, their attitudes to children having sex, rehabilitation, their justice system or anything else and I don't see the point of imagining it

 

[SpookyFrank]

I don't know what they think about their team-mate, their attitudes to children having sex, rehabilitation, their justice system or anything else and I don't see the point of imagining it

We do know their actions though. Those were, as a team, as an organisation, as however many individuals, to do nothing. Maybe they privately felt bad about it, but all we know is that they did nothing. Because of achievement. They wanted to do achievement and that came first.

 

[SpookyFrank]

I have looked into the criminal history of colleagues, friends and acquaintances precisely zero times, nor have I pored over every story of rape in the UK and memorised the names; not particularly unusual.

You're really going with 'they didn't know' then?

 

[littlebabyjesus]

Canadian football coach sent home and banned for a year for cheating ( using a drone ).
Priestman 'heartbroken' by drone scandal as funding pulled - Paris Olympics 2024: Canada football drone scandal - Bev Priestman 'heartbroken for players'

That's directly sport-related, though. She was cheating and got caught. It's totally different, as is the breaking of any team rules by a current competitor, as in the Japanese smoking incident (which I think is ridiculous, but there it is).

I'm with AnnaKarpik on this. Unless you have a blanket opinion that anyone convicted of certain offences should never be allowed to be rehabilitated, we simply don't have enough information about this particular case to judge it. Certainly don't have enough information to judge his teammates.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

You're really going with 'they didn't know' then?

So what if they did know? Maybe they all sat down with him a while ago and talked it through? Maybe they don't think he should be prevented from competing and were fine with playing alongside him? Who knows, but you're going to judge them for that?

 

[SpookyFrank]

So what if they did know? Maybe they all sat down with him a while ago and talked it through? Maybe they don't think he should be prevented from competing and were fine with playing alongside him? Who knows, but you're going to judge them for that?

Yes, clearly.

It's pretty mind-boggling to me that nobody else is.

 

[littlebabyjesus]

We do know their actions though. Those were, as a team, as an organisation, as however many individuals, to do nothing. Maybe they privately felt bad about it, but all we know is that they did nothing. Because of achievement. They wanted to do achievement and that came first.

Or... they don't agree with you about the clear lines of rightness and wrongness in this?

Just a thought. I don't agree with you, for example.

 

[xenon]

This is the issue. I think we can all agree that we’d rather this creep wasn’t there, but if there are no rules against it and his conviction is considered spent by his home nation, where do you draw the line? Should all athletes with criminal convictions be barred from representing their countries?

I wouldn’t necessarily be against that but I’d hazard a guess that it would thin the field quite substantially if applied across the board.

The notion that other athletes, completely clean, who have nothing to do with him, should throw away their Olympic prospects in protest or be culpable in rape, is beyond ridiculous though.

It’s not that difficult. Just don’t have sex offenders representing your country at the Olympics. Slippery slope arguments can fuck off.

 

[cesare]

Yes, clearly.

It's pretty mind-boggling to me that nobody else is.

I get it (not saying I agree with it), It's quite similar to when solidarity is shown to a sacked worker by all their colleagues walking out of their own jobs.

 

[pbsmooth]

It’s not that difficult. Just don’t have sex offenders representing your country at the Olympics. Slippery slope arguments can fuck off.

it's an interesting one. so, sex offenders just have to sit at home for the rest of their lives? no attempt for rehabilitation? otherwise, where do you draw the line? 'you're not allowed to be a sportsperson' seems a bit arbitrary.

my main issue is the leniency of the Dutch sentence. I would expect a much longer sentence which would make all of this irrelevant.

 

[xenon]

But there has to be consensus at Olympic/international level, not national level.

The Dutch have fielded a competitor with a rape conviction, whilst the Japanese have sent one of theirs home for smoking.

Bollocks does there have to be consensus. This makes the Dutch Olympic Association look bad. They should’ve known that and done something about it. Other countries are able to do similar.

 

[xenon]

it's an interesting one. so, sex offenders just have to sit at home for the rest of their lives? no attempt for rehabilitation? otherwise, where do you draw the line? 'you're not allowed to be a sportsperson' seems a bit arbitrary.

my main issue is the leniency of the Dutch sentence. I would expect a much longer sentence which would make all of this irrelevant.

I draw a line where I just drew it. This is the Olympics for fuck sake. Not getting a job in Tesco’s.

 

[xenon]

Where I work. You’re unlikely to even be a volunteer if you have a conviction for a sex offence. I think the same applies to the Olympic volunteers.