In 2016, Steven van de Velde pleaded guilty to three counts of raping a 12-year British schoolgirl. On Sunday, the registered sex offender was knocked out of the Paris Olympics.
To be clear. I’m not defending a rapist. There is some nuance though. The guy was 19 and she said she was 16. They’d been chatting for months, and he flew to the UK for her, believing they were in some sort of relationship. He found out her true age after this.
Was he being naive thinking it’d be alright. Oh yes. Is it still wrong? Definitely. Should be have been punished? Yep.
Is he a pedophile because he had sex with a girl he was in love with and should he be punished for the rest of his life? You tell me.
Judge Francis Sheridan said: "You were a potential Olympian. You had the possibility of a stellar future representing the Netherlands.
“She was a child aged 12. You were fully aware of that fact.”
How tf?! Thank you for the information, this is somehow even dumber than I thought
To be clear. I’m not defending a rapist. There is some nuance though. The guy was 19 and she said she was 16. They’d been chatting for months, and he flew to the UK for her, believing they were in some sort of relationship. He found out her true age after this.
Was he being naive thinking it’d be alright. Oh yes. Is it still wrong? Definitely. Should be have been punished? Yep.
Is he a pedophile because he had sex with a girl he was in love with and should he be punished for the rest of his life? You tell me.
That’s wrong, he knew she was twelve before he went to the UK. Don’t make shit up.
He knew before he raped her:
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-35861441