In 2014, a then-19-year-old Van de Velde traveled to Britain to meet a 12-year-old girl he’d met on Facebook, fully aware of her age. In 2016, he pleaded guilty to raping the schoolgirl and was sentenced to four years in prison. Van de Velde served 12 months behind bars in Britain before being transferred to the Netherlands where he was released a month later.

  • aramis87@fedia.io
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    1 month ago

    Through tears, he mentioned a British tabloid article which included a picture of his wife. “That’s when I broke down,” Van de Velde said. “I did something wrong, ten years ago. I have to accept that. But hurting people around me—whether it’s [teammate Matthew Immers], my wife, my child… that just goes too far for me.

    He didn’t care about the kid he raped, or her family and friends and how he ruined her life. He only cared when a newspaper showed a picture of his wife. :/

    Michel Everaert, the general director of the Dutch Volleyball Association (Nevobo), also claimed Tuesday that the booing Van de Velde faced had been instigated by British newspapers. “It’s just organized,” Everaert said when asked about how the booing increased during the Games, according to the Brabants Dagblad newspaper. “They stirred up the whole story, those English tabloids.

    … Is the Dutch government unfamiliar with Olympics coverage? Every Olympics, the athletes’ histories get examined and shared with the public. Did they somehow expect that this would not be covered by the press?

    • tacosanonymous@lemm.ee
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      1 month ago

      Jbfc, what a deluded and selfish POS. I hope more bad things happen to him. Hopefully, someone gives him a hard privilege check and he realizes this isn’t about him. Then maybe he can truly be sorry without people shitting on him.