Steven van de Velde
Dutch beach volleyball player (born 1994)
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Key Takeaways
- Steven van de Velde ( Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsteːvə(ɱ) vɑn də ˈvɛldə] ; born 8 August 1994) is a Dutch beach volleyball player.
- He returned to sport in 2018 and participated in the 2024 Summer Olympics, with the Dutch Olympic Committee standing by their nomination despite a petition calling for him to be removed.
- Early volleyball career Van de Velde won the Under-20 Dutch National Championships in 2011.
- Child rape In 2014, Van de Velde, aged 19, met with a 12-year-old girl who sent him a friend request on Facebook.
- That same night, Van de Velde tried to stay at a hotel with his victim but was denied a room, so they slept under a staircase.
Steven van de Velde (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈsteːvə(ɱ) vɑn də ˈvɛldə]; born 8 August 1994) is a Dutch beach volleyball player. He was convicted of child rape in 2016; in 2014, when Van de Velde was 19, he raped a 12-year-old British girl, after contacting her on social media, travelling to Britain to meet her, and giving her alcohol. He returned to sport in 2018 and participated in the 2024 Summer Olympics, with the Dutch Olympic Committee standing by their nomination despite a petition calling for him to be removed. The same year, he won a bronze medal at the 2024 European Championships.
Early volleyball career
Van de Velde won the Under-20 Dutch National Championships in 2011. With Michiel van Dorsten, he represented the Netherlands at the 2015 European Games.
Child rape
In 2014, Van de Velde, aged 19, met with a 12-year-old girl who sent him a friend request on Facebook. In August 2014, aware of her age, he travelled to her home town, Milton Keynes, gave her alcohol and raped her. That same night, Van de Velde tried to stay at a hotel with his victim but was denied a room, so they slept under a staircase. Van de Velde raped the victim twice the next day. During one of the three rapes, the victim told Van de Velde that he was hurting her.
Van de Velde returned to the Netherlands after the rapes and told his victim to go to a sexual health clinic for emergency contraception. He was extradited to the United Kingdom and arrested in January 2016.
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