A SAND volleyball player convicted of raping a British woman broke his silence and wept shamelessly after being booed at the Olympics.
Steven Van de Velde flew from his native Netherlands to the UK to meet his 12-year-old victim after grooming her on Facebook.
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Dutch volleyball player Steven van de Velde cries during a press conferenceCredit: AFP
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The 30-year-old was jailed in 2016 after meeting his 12-year-old victim onlineCredit: Getty
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Van de Velde was booed by the crowd during his games at the Paris Olympics. Credit: Rex
He was 19 years old when he met the girl in 2014.
Van de Velde later received a four-year prison sentence in 2016 after pleading guilty to three counts of rape.
But the beach volleyball player returned to fame after winning his place at the Paris Olympics.
The now 30-year-old qualified alongside his partner Matthew Immers, who is now number 11 in the team, reports The Telegraph.
More about Steven Van de Velde
But Van de Velde did not receive a warm welcome in the French capital as he was booed by people and cried during the press conference.
The disgraced athlete revealed he was considering skipping this year’s Olympics after brazenly attacking the media for reporting on his case.
He said: “I’ve definitely thought about it, yes.
“I did something wrong, ten years ago. I have to accept it.
“But to hurt the people around me – whether it’s Matthew, my wife, my child… it’s just too far for me.
“That’s definitely the moment where I thought, is it worth it?”
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He revealed that he had considered skipping this year’s Olympics Credit: Reuters
Unlike all Olympic athletes, Van de Velde did not sleep in the Olympic village, but had a separate hotel room, reports the Dutch Omroep West.
The Dutch also defended that a child rapist should receive special treatment to avoid interviews.
Dutch assistant John van Vliet said: “We are protecting a convicted child rapist to play his sport as best as possible.”
His teammate Matthew Immers (23) also came to the defense of his friend (29).
He said: “He got his punishment. And now he’s really kind.”
A Paris 2024 official revealed: “He was taken away with three bodyguards.
“We are not happy with it, but the decision was made at the top of the IOC.”
Ciara Bergman, chief executive of Rape Crisis England & Wales, said: “It sends a damaging message that competing in sport is more important than raping a child.”
Following his 2016 conviction, Van de Velde was released in 2017 after serving just 12 months in a Dutch prison.
He has since been allowed to continue his Olympic career.
Van de Velde traveled to the UK to meet and have sex with his victim, Aylesbury Crown Court heard during his trial almost a decade ago.
Prosecutor Sandra Beck told the court at the time: “She described meeting Steven Van de Velde on Facebook, they spoke regularly through it and he made her ‘feel special’.
“She made it clear that she is seven years younger than him.
“This social media relationship has been going on for some time.”
We protect a convicted child rapist to play his sport as best as possible.
John van VlietDutch Assistant
The girl added the Dutch player as a friend on Facebook after he allegedly commented on one of her photos, a court heard.
The pair would then talk every day via 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 the 19-year-old at the hotel.
When they couldn’t book, they went to Furzton Lake in the city and drank Baileys and she had sex with him.
The couple slept in cardboard boxes under the staircase at the Premier Inn because they couldn’t get a room afterwards.
The next morning she allegedly took him to her empty house, where they had sex.
Before returning to the Netherlands, Van de Velde told the girl to take the morning-after pill because they were not using contraception.
The girl’s visit to a family planning clinic alerted the authorities, who stepped in because of her youth.
Van de Velde, from Voorburg, was then extradited to the UK and arrested on suspicion of sexual misconduct.
After coming out in 2017, the ailing athlete tried to defend himself and lamented that people didn’t hear “his side of the story.”
The National Society for the Protection of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC) condemned his comments.
A spokesman said: “Van de Velde’s lack of remorse and self-pity is breathtaking and we can only begin to imagine how devastated his victim must feel when she sees his comments.
“Domestication can cause a child to feel shame or even guilt because he believes that he has somehow willingly participated when, in fact, an adult has hunted him down to sexually exploit him.”
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The disgraced athlete was released from prison after only 12 months of his sentence. Credit: Reuters
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The shameless volleyball player lamented in an interview that no one heard ‘his side of the story’Credit: SOUTH BEDS NEWS AGENCY
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