A CHILD-rapist Dutch volleyball player who abused a 12-year-old British girl has been denied entry to Australia where he wanted to compete.
Steven van de Velde, 31, has been barred ahead of next month’s Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide because his crimes are so “abhorrent”.
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Steven van de Velde representing the Netherlands in the Paris OlympicsCredit: Reuters
Van de Velde has moaned in the past about being cancelled over his sick crimesCredit: AFP
Van de Velde pleaded guilty to three counts of raping a 12-year-old girl in Milton Keynes in 2014.
He was sentenced to four years in jail in 2016.
As a 21-year-old, the Dutchman met the child on Facebook and travelled to England from Amsterdam in order to meet her.
He raped her own home, and returned back to the Netherlands.
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After two years, he was extradited back to the UK, and ahead of sentencing the court heard he had known the girl’s age.
A fortnight ago, South Australia‘s Attorney-General Kyam Maher called on the federal government to reject Van de Velde’s visa as his crimes were “utterly abhorrent”.
The letter said: “We do not believe that foreign child sex offenders should be granted entry to this country.”
Van de Velde served only 12 months of his four-year sentence, and resumed his professional sporting career in 2018.
He has represented the Netherlands at several global tournaments.
Last year, he played for the national team at the Paris Olympics, where he was booed by some members of the crowd.
An online petition calling for him to be banned from the Olympics attracted 90,000 signatures.
After the competition, van de Velde complained he was being unfairly bullied.
He said he had been considering skipping Paris 2024 and blamed the media for reporting his crimes.
He told Dutch TV channel NOS: “I’m not going to give others the power to decide that they can bully me away or get rid of me.”
Van de Velde previously broke into tears during an interview with Dutch media, saying: “I did something wrong, ten years ago. I have to accept that.
Van de Velde has had his visa into Australia refusedCredit: PA
The player will be unable to compete at the Beach Volleyball World Championships in Adelaide next monthCredit: EPA
“But hurting people around me – whether it’s Matthew, my wife, my child… that just goes too far for me.
“That’s definitely a moment where I thought, is this worth it?”
Some in the Netherlands spoke out in support of the convicted rapist, arguing he was being “cancelled” despite “setting a good example at the Games”.
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In a statement posted on the Netherlands Volleyball Federation website before the Olympics, Van de Velde said: “I cannot reverse it, so I will have to bear the consequences. It has been the biggest mistake of my life.”
Van de Velde, who is now married and has a young son, added: “I’m not the person I was ten years ago.”
