A VOLLEYBALL star convicted of raping a 12-year-old British girl has been BANNED from speaking to media at the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Steven van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 following the rape two years earlier when he was 19.
He served part of his sentence in the UK before being transferred to his native Netherlands where his term was adjusted to the norms of Dutch law.
Van de Velde was later released in 2017 after just one year in jail and continued playing beach volleyball right away.
He was then controversially named in the Dutch Olympic team last month.
The Dutch Olympic committee, along with Van de Velde and playing partner Matthew Immers, took steps to mitigate the impact of his participation.
Disgraced Van de Velde moved to alternative accommodation in Paris and has been put on a ban from talking to media.
Chef de mission Pieter van den Hoogenband told Dutch TV: “He’s not going to downplay it (his conviction).
“We have to respect that and help him as a member of the team to be able to perform.”
Kate Seary, co-founder and director of Kyniska Advocacy, which works for the protection and respect of women in sports, said: “His participation sends a message to everyone that sporting prowess trumps crime.”
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International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams reiterated that the body had no role in the decision to select Van de Velde.
Adams said: “They have put out a statement, they’ve made it very clear there’s a lot of safeguarding going on, special extra safeguarding.”
Van de Velde flew from the Netherlands to the UK to meet his 12-year-old victim after grooming her on Facebook.
He travelled to the UK to have sex with her, Aylesbury Crown Court heard during his trial almost a decade ago.
The girl had added the Dutch player as a friend on Facebook after he allegedly commented on one of her photos, the court heard.
They would then chat every day over Facebook, Snapchat and Skype before he visited her in Milton Keynes in 2014.
The girl told her family she was staying with a friend and snuck out to try to meet with the 19-year-old at a hotel.
When they couldn’t make a booking, they went to Furzton Lake in the town and drank Baileys and she performed a sex act on him.
The pair slept in cardboard boxes under a stairwell at Premier Inn because after they couldn’t get a room.
She allegedly led him to her empty house the following morning, where they had sex.
Prior to his return to the Netherlands, Van de Velde told the girl to get the morning after pill as they had not used contraception.
The girl’s visit to a family planning clinic alerted authorities, who stepped in because of her young age.
Van de Velde, from Voorburg, was then extradited to the UK and arrested on suspicion of the sex acts.
Upon his release in 2017, the sick sportsman tried to defend himself and moaned people weren’t hearing “his side of the story”.
His comments were slammed by the National Society for Protection of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC).
Linda Strudwick, Van de Velde’s own defence lawyer, said of the verdict at Aylesbury Crown Court: “The headlines say it all: ‘A sex monster.’
“It’s plainly a career end for him.”
But the shamed volleyball player is now set to return to prominence after he clinched his spot at the Paris Games in July.
