Oh it must be a coincidence...
Forgot to mention this:
"After serving 12 months of the four year sentence, he was released from prison and resumed his career as a beach volleyball player, and continued playing with his teammate ."
I'm generally of the opinion that once someone's served their time that should be it with no further judgment or punishment. But in this case I'd say 1 year for raping a 12 year old is absolutely insane, he's basically got away with it.
Yeah in this case the system clearly failed. After OJ was acquitted were we all supposed to pretend he didnāt kill his girlfriend? I know Iād be really scared to be around him regardless of the trial result.
OJ happened not only in a different country, but his acquittal had more to do with a reaction to a corrupt and racist system that had been unfairly punishing BPoC people for years, so Iām not sure that that is the best example.
Itās not only that but olympics is not just about performance but also representation. Soā¦ Dutch people want this dude to represent themselves in the olympics.
I am not clear here, am confused. But a big part of me says that ācool buddy, you turned your life around. Now the only real consequence of your actions will be that you shouldnāt represent a nation in the olympics, good for youā¦ā
Let me correct myself, if this guy goes to the Olympics now that the Dutch know, he will represent the Dutch people and he will have their (maybe reluctant) consent.
No he won't have our consent. No official institute asked me whether we should send him to the Olympics. Also I didn't have the chance to vote for any official responsible for this. So please don't go spreading this nonsense. We're looking bad enough by proxy already.
You live in Netherlands. You have all the tools in your disposal to prevent this guy from representing you, you will be listened. I am aware that you do not vote for athletes, it would be impossible to decide stuff that way. But if he goes on to win a medal for you, it will also be Netherlandās. So even if he doesnāt represent you, he represents your country.
>for raping a 12 year old
Not just that. He groomed her online, got her drunk and raped her 4 (!) times. The girl later was cutting herself and even overdosed on drugs. She is mentally ruined.
Well I don't know all the legal background but I have had this discussion already, he got out early on parole because she behaved good in prison (something worth incentivising), the parole office also decided that his rehabilitation would be served well if he got out earlier, as more prison time would have detrimental effects on his rehabilitation chances.
It sounds shit, and I get why people would be upset, but he gets the same chances and rules as any other criminal, idk why his sentence was only 4 years, maybe he was on drugs or there wasn't enough evidence for a harsher sentence I am not interested enough to look it up but I would bet there are reasons for why it was only 4 years even if they are not good reasons.
In the end the damage is done, punishing him more if he truly regrets it, plus he will have to deal with this his entire life from now on, has now value to society or the victim. If he regrets it and can rejoin society without a high chance of relapse, then he should be allowed to, making this harder and increasing the chance he doe sit again doesn't help anyone. It feels shit but our legal system is not for vengeance, punsihment or even justice (at least in most European nations, plus justice is very subjective and as such not a good measurement for law), it's for the rule of law keeping society working and helping criminals to rehabilitate once they served their due. It's a cold calculating tool which has the goal of making society work and helping to make society safer, which means reintegrating felons regardless of what they did as long as it is possible, as otherwise you just let a dangerous person free which will do bad stuff again.
To see how a system focussed on punishment works we only need to look westwards to the US, there is a reason many criminals get out of prison worse than they got in in the US, partially because of the prison system but also a lot because the US doesn't care about rehabilitation.
12 months of jailtime for raping a 12-year-old???
lifesentence is not enough for this crime, any parent will agree
also, Olympic athletes are portrayed as heroes and role models...what kind of example is he to youth? that you can get away with crime easily???
The parents are stupid. This doesn't warrant a lifetime sentence. One year is way too short though and should't he be getting mandatory lifelong therapy? And I agree that a criminal like himself shouldn't be able to go to the Olympics.
I think there are crimes that cannot be rehabilitated.
Raping a 12 year old when being a 20 year old is so sinister it cannot be forgiven, a person like this must be in databases and live at the lowest level of society for the rest of his life. Disqualified of being a public figure, let alone being a 'star' athlete.. Quite honestly i would tattoo 'convicted pdf file'on his forehead and he cannot remove for the rest of his life. If he removes, then castrate.
And he got 1 year man. thats far from served his time. Even 4 years would have been light,but 1 year????
"After serving 12 months of the four year sentence, he was released from prison and resumed his career as a beach volleyball player, and continued playing with his teammate " Wiki.
Maybe do just a quick google search so you know the context and dont make a fool of yourself?
He has served time and is a free man. However, the volleyball association could still claim that a pedophile and child rapist should not represent the Netherlands. That still makes him a free man, but not fit for purpose to represent the nation. In my world that is a reasonable conclusion.
Thatās a terrible idea. What a child rapist can and cannot do after he served his time should be decided by law, not some arbitrary volleyball association getting on a moral high horse.
And last I checked it was a volleyball and not a morality tournament. If a person has paid for his crimes by jail time, he should be able to participate.
>Jail is supposed to lead towards rehabilitation. Unless we all agree we should bring the death penalty back.
There are two factors at play, punishment and rehabilitation. Having one without the other makes for a shitty judicial system in my opinion.
Does this sound like he has remorse? He said this.
āI do want to correct all the nonsense that has been written about me when I was locked up. I did not read any of it, on purpose, but I understand that it was quite bad, that I have been branded as a sex monster, as a paedophile. That I am not, really not.
āEveryone can have their opinion about me, but it is only fair if they also know my side of the story.ā
A true remorse is either he makes no excuses and say sorry without even sugar coating it or stay silent, ashamed of his action or whatever.
Well the article also says that the sentence was adjusted when he was transferred to the Netherlands so itās not like he did serve the full sentence. The fact that apparently itās less of a big deal to rape a pre-teen in the Netherlands is also not something Iād personally want to use as an argument as to why things are cool now.
Read in another article that his victim was pretty messed up by this and started to self-harm, but hey, he did his time according to the most lenient venue he was able to get to.
Even if you are believing that he served his time (ridiculous small punishment for that crime) : He will be residing in the olympic village amongst young teenagers, even 12 year old girls. Enough said
What is hard to wrap my head around is WHY this dude would willfully expose himself to a global public where his pedophiling past will be the only conversation - what is the upside here??
Without knowing more and having read the article.
Life goes on. Your past failings do not necessitate one to build your life around it. Interests we have can make us do things that bring us into overall less fortunate situations that are paradoxically also against our interests.
Now, do not read any of these as me being favorable of a rapist. Just wanting to give perspective. There is also something to be said about bygones be bygones as cruel as that sounds, but he seems to be free currently. So he either did his time or it is less than certain if he did and a judgement is still withstanding.
Edit.: having read it now my points above still stand. Punishing people outside of court when they were already sentenced is outside of whatās necessary. Past misgivings also do not keep one from being a role model, if the current behavior is up-to par. People may not like that and may stick it to people for eternity, but that rarely translates well into the current situation.
Iām sure ālife goes onā doesnāt apply to his child victim. This isnāt like spilling a tin of beans. Raping children is about as bad as it can get when it comes to offences. How a UK court gave him just 4 years and the Netherlands letting him out after 1 is incomprehensible. No I donāt think child rapists should be allowed to rebuild sorry, especially not being supported during the Olympics.
France could show that Olympic Games are important and ask him to be disqualified. But like for Romanski, Depardieu or Darmanin they donāt care about rapists (and Macron is even proud of Depardieu).
The IOC is one of the worldās most corrupt organizations. Russia literally undermined the integrity of the games with systemic cheating and only got a slap on the wrist. I like the idea of the Olympics but the organization and people who run the games have no morals and only want to line their pockets.
The guy's absolute lack of remorse is chilling. Which makes me wonder whether what he did would have been a criminal offence if he had done it in the Netherlands. I see that the age of consent is 16 but it seems like there are exceptions if the older person is also a teenager, which he was, just. I don't particularly wish to Google further on the subject, but are there any Dutch people here who could explain the law on the topic?
Teenager =/= Jugendlicher. Wird dir zwar als Ćbersetzung ausgegeben, wenn du aber nach der Definition von Teenager suchst ist es die oben genannte von 13 bis 19.
Die Definition kommt auch aus einem Land in dem du erst ab 21 alle Rechte eines erwachsenen hast.
Und selbst dort wirst du mit 19 nach dem Erwachsenenstrafrecht behandelt.
Das ist richtig. Der Fehler liegt aber in der ersten Aussage, dass das Recht zwischen Teenager und nicht Teenager unterscheidet und nicht darin, dass man gleichzeitig Teenager und adult sein kann.
Die Definition kommt einfach aus dem Englischen und hat mit dem rechtlichen Unterschied zwischen Erwachsenen und Jugendlich nichts zu tun.
This is an English language subreddit.
Your link is irrelevant. "Teenager" is not a legally defined term. I'm not saying that 19 year olds are minors, I'm saying they're [teenagers](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teenager).
You dont want to google it but can judge his lack of remorse; which he clearly states he has loads of remorse every time this gets brought up with him?
Anyways, yes, the law applied to teenagers is different especially if they get help, treatment and show rehabilitation. Which is exacrly how a justice system should work instead of just locking people up and not giving a shit.
Wow, very easy to throw around empty sympathies when you've ruined a child's life and have faced no real consequences given the gravity of the crime. I do believe in rehabilitation when it comes to certain petty crimes but this is one of the instances where the act is so severe and outside of any socially acceptable behaviour that he shouldn't get a chance to simply move on from what he's done. Besides, he was an adult when the act took place.
I seriously hope you get locked up. It would be good for you to reflect that change is part of life and i also hope you never get the chance to do so. Just as you are projecting to this guy in the same position.
It's unbelievable but 100% true. They are shameless and should be shamed. I hope the commentators of all countries will introduce him as the child rapist. Despicable that the Dutch volleyball association blatantly shows that when you're good at a sport any crime you commit, no matter how heinous, is excused!
Not something where you're literally supposed to represent your country on the international stage. People who go to the Olympics should be an inspiration for young people.
They can get fucked. First, he should be in prison. Second, there are enough jobs that don't require him to represent his country, he could go into waste management or something like that.
And all the bad things he did wiped clean, right? He's a normal citizen than should proudly represent his country at Olympics. I don't know if I were Dutch if I wanted my country to be represented by a registered sex offender.
Arenāt people who a society punished, well, already punished? I didnāt read anywhere that there were additions to his prison sentence in the article. Also, kinda funny that the words of an english judge donāt apply about a manās future in another nation, but that may be just me.
He did his prison term, but he's life-long pedophile. I don't think known pedophiles should represent countries at Olympics, like I said if I were Dutch I would not want a pedophile to represent my country even if that meant one less chance for a medal.
Being a pedophile is not being punishable, I know you want to punish people who havenāt commited a crime or want to make them bleed for who they are, but you should remember that you and me live in relative peace, because criminal persecution requires a crime to be committed.
As for who you want to represent you at the Olympics that is up to you and the nation you are a part of. If we look at America we can see what lifelong persecution and stigma does to a country. The perpetrator in this case could have done with another three or four years, but to all your misgivings about the situation it does not change the fact that he is again a normal citizen.
I donāt agree with this monster of a person getting any stage anywhere. But I guess in a pure judicial sense, when the man has served his sentence and is free again, he can probably do anything he wants, accept working with children that is. That is kind of the way it works.
Although my gut tells me this guy should live a sober life outside any spotlight.
I know Iām gonna get downvoted to oblivion, but I really donāt see what the big deal is. The guy was convicted and did his time. What would be the reason to disqualify him? Do we now require that all Olympics participants will have no criminal record? Should we now allow criminal courts to also sentence people to never working again, on top of prison time and fines?
This guy is a piece of shit, I donāt doubt it, I just think even pieces of shit should be allowed to have a life and a career after their conviction.
I am seeing far too much apologetics for child rapists on these threads. You think serving 1 year and then being able to represent your country at the Olympics is a suitable punishment for raping a child?
Fuck that noise.
I think itās up to the courts and the legislators to determine what a suitable punishment is, not the reddit mobs. And once thatās served and done, people should get their rights back. Thatās how legal systems are supposed to work.
I donāt think you understand what apologetics is, but hey youāre probably not alone in this, maybe Google terms before using them in unfitting ways.
Yes and a year served for raping a child doesnāt seem to be a fitting punishment does it? The Dutch Olympic committee also has the right to not select him.
I agree with you that it seems low, but that doesnāt change the fact that he served his time according to whatever his countryās laws and courts decided. Itās not up to the Olympic committee to say ā5 years? Thatās enough, join in! 1 year? Nope, too low!ā.
I mean he did a terrible thing but that article is hilarious. It's basically about British feelings being hurt because of the judge looking like an idiot now after making unsolicited remarks \[which I guess is customary for judges\]. And the defence lawyer, saying "The headlines say it all: "A sex monster!" " LOL I don't know, maybe that's normal under common law but for me this feels highly unprofessional, to share your personal opinion on your client.
As an ex-convict, in quite a few European countries he may not be eligible for not only public service occupations but jobs in the private sector where the employer specifies that they seek applicants without a criminal record. (Exceptions can be crimes committed by kids and adolescents, as the juvenile records are usually sealed to give you a can slate at 18.)
So if he has a criminal record, itās quite cringe that he is considered as someone totally okay to carry on the spirit of olympics, while in real life if he applied as night janitor at a financial instution, he would be rejected.
I'm not a big fan of the idea of double punishment, yet I can see the outrage in light of the severity of his crime..
I think at some point people should be allowed move on when they have done their time, but it seems people just want public lynchings. If we by default judge people based on their former wrongdoings, I doubt they will ever have a chance to become better humans.
The then 12 years old victim may still have complex PTSD and require medication/continuous therapy to carry on in life.
While I am with you, the guy deserves to have a regular day job or to continue his pro sport career after he served the court ordered time, I disagree that he deserves to be an athlete in the Olympics.
Making the Olympics team is a privilege, and naturally not all professional athletes from a country can make the cut. Giving the spot to a convicted rapist instead of someone else could even send a message to young people that crime is okay, if you rape or assult someone, you can still have the highest honor in international sports.
Because it's pretty bad representation for the Netherlands to send a convicted pedophile but moreso: Because the Olympics are a very public event and this just means the victim has to be confronted with her rapist again.
Let him play volleyball sure but why select him for the Olympics? I don't want my country represented by a pedo.
I'm torn on this one, on one hand he is a monster, who hasn't spent nearly enough time in jail for the vile thing he has done, and he isn't fit to represent a country. On the other hand, nothing in the rules says an ex-convict can't participate in the olympics.
If it were up to me tho I wish he was still in jail right now instead of playing voleyball.
Because being an olympic athlete is avout representing your country. And as the articles states one of the terms the athlete has to sign is to act like a rolemodel. In this case the Netherlands representative and rolemodel is a rapist pedophile.
WTF!! š¤®
https://www.volleybal.nl/support-for-steven-van-de-velde-who-realizes-past-cannot-be-erased Article from Dutch Volleyball Association
Look how the article subtly fails to mention that the girl was 12 years old. š¤¢ This article is biased as fuck.
Oh it must be a coincidence... Forgot to mention this: "After serving 12 months of the four year sentence, he was released from prison and resumed his career as a beach volleyball player, and continued playing with his teammate ."
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
I'm generally of the opinion that once someone's served their time that should be it with no further judgment or punishment. But in this case I'd say 1 year for raping a 12 year old is absolutely insane, he's basically got away with it.
Yeah in this case the system clearly failed. After OJ was acquitted were we all supposed to pretend he didnāt kill his girlfriend? I know Iād be really scared to be around him regardless of the trial result.
OJ happened not only in a different country, but his acquittal had more to do with a reaction to a corrupt and racist system that had been unfairly punishing BPoC people for years, so Iām not sure that that is the best example.
Itās not only that but olympics is not just about performance but also representation. Soā¦ Dutch people want this dude to represent themselves in the olympics. I am not clear here, am confused. But a big part of me says that ācool buddy, you turned your life around. Now the only real consequence of your actions will be that you shouldnāt represent a nation in the olympics, good for youā¦ā
Of course we don't, nobody even knew about this guy until a couple of days ago when this shit was brought up.
Seriously naive to think that all Dutch people even knew of this before this came out.
Let me correct myself, if this guy goes to the Olympics now that the Dutch know, he will represent the Dutch people and he will have their (maybe reluctant) consent.
No he won't have our consent. No official institute asked me whether we should send him to the Olympics. Also I didn't have the chance to vote for any official responsible for this. So please don't go spreading this nonsense. We're looking bad enough by proxy already.
You live in Netherlands. You have all the tools in your disposal to prevent this guy from representing you, you will be listened. I am aware that you do not vote for athletes, it would be impossible to decide stuff that way. But if he goes on to win a medal for you, it will also be Netherlandās. So even if he doesnāt represent you, he represents your country.
>for raping a 12 year old Not just that. He groomed her online, got her drunk and raped her 4 (!) times. The girl later was cutting herself and even overdosed on drugs. She is mentally ruined.
Well I don't know all the legal background but I have had this discussion already, he got out early on parole because she behaved good in prison (something worth incentivising), the parole office also decided that his rehabilitation would be served well if he got out earlier, as more prison time would have detrimental effects on his rehabilitation chances. It sounds shit, and I get why people would be upset, but he gets the same chances and rules as any other criminal, idk why his sentence was only 4 years, maybe he was on drugs or there wasn't enough evidence for a harsher sentence I am not interested enough to look it up but I would bet there are reasons for why it was only 4 years even if they are not good reasons. In the end the damage is done, punishing him more if he truly regrets it, plus he will have to deal with this his entire life from now on, has now value to society or the victim. If he regrets it and can rejoin society without a high chance of relapse, then he should be allowed to, making this harder and increasing the chance he doe sit again doesn't help anyone. It feels shit but our legal system is not for vengeance, punsihment or even justice (at least in most European nations, plus justice is very subjective and as such not a good measurement for law), it's for the rule of law keeping society working and helping criminals to rehabilitate once they served their due. It's a cold calculating tool which has the goal of making society work and helping to make society safer, which means reintegrating felons regardless of what they did as long as it is possible, as otherwise you just let a dangerous person free which will do bad stuff again. To see how a system focussed on punishment works we only need to look westwards to the US, there is a reason many criminals get out of prison worse than they got in in the US, partially because of the prison system but also a lot because the US doesn't care about rehabilitation.
Adult guy rapes a 12 y/o. > I don't see what everyone's deal is Someone check this dude's harddrive.
12 months of jailtime for raping a 12-year-old??? lifesentence is not enough for this crime, any parent will agree also, Olympic athletes are portrayed as heroes and role models...what kind of example is he to youth? that you can get away with crime easily???
The parents are stupid. This doesn't warrant a lifetime sentence. One year is way too short though and should't he be getting mandatory lifelong therapy? And I agree that a criminal like himself shouldn't be able to go to the Olympics.
>The parents are stupid. This doesn't warrant a lifetime sentence. why???
1 year when he traumatised that girl for the rest of her life is not enough I am sorry. Should not be allowed at the olympics idc
I think there are crimes that cannot be rehabilitated. Raping a 12 year old when being a 20 year old is so sinister it cannot be forgiven, a person like this must be in databases and live at the lowest level of society for the rest of his life. Disqualified of being a public figure, let alone being a 'star' athlete.. Quite honestly i would tattoo 'convicted pdf file'on his forehead and he cannot remove for the rest of his life. If he removes, then castrate. And he got 1 year man. thats far from served his time. Even 4 years would have been light,but 1 year???? "After serving 12 months of the four year sentence, he was released from prison and resumed his career as a beach volleyball player, and continued playing with his teammate " Wiki. Maybe do just a quick google search so you know the context and dont make a fool of yourself?
His serving time was too small. No one can make me believe that sex criminals can be "cured", what did you want him to state?
He has served time and is a free man. However, the volleyball association could still claim that a pedophile and child rapist should not represent the Netherlands. That still makes him a free man, but not fit for purpose to represent the nation. In my world that is a reasonable conclusion.
Thatās a terrible idea. What a child rapist can and cannot do after he served his time should be decided by law, not some arbitrary volleyball association getting on a moral high horse. And last I checked it was a volleyball and not a morality tournament. If a person has paid for his crimes by jail time, he should be able to participate.
Why defend this piece of shit?
>Jail is supposed to lead towards rehabilitation. Unless we all agree we should bring the death penalty back. There are two factors at play, punishment and rehabilitation. Having one without the other makes for a shitty judicial system in my opinion.
Does this sound like he has remorse? He said this. āI do want to correct all the nonsense that has been written about me when I was locked up. I did not read any of it, on purpose, but I understand that it was quite bad, that I have been branded as a sex monster, as a paedophile. That I am not, really not. āEveryone can have their opinion about me, but it is only fair if they also know my side of the story.ā A true remorse is either he makes no excuses and say sorry without even sugar coating it or stay silent, ashamed of his action or whatever.
I agree and I believe he regret it, but let's not make him a public figure.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Well the article also says that the sentence was adjusted when he was transferred to the Netherlands so itās not like he did serve the full sentence. The fact that apparently itās less of a big deal to rape a pre-teen in the Netherlands is also not something Iād personally want to use as an argument as to why things are cool now. Read in another article that his victim was pretty messed up by this and started to self-harm, but hey, he did his time according to the most lenient venue he was able to get to.
Dr disrespect alt
Even if you are believing that he served his time (ridiculous small punishment for that crime) : He will be residing in the olympic village amongst young teenagers, even 12 year old girls. Enough said
Well that article does only have hes PR comments about it...
This is a joke, right?
professional sport is infested with corruption, abuse and cheat... it's time to stop praising these drug addict freaks...
What is hard to wrap my head around is WHY this dude would willfully expose himself to a global public where his pedophiling past will be the only conversation - what is the upside here??
Money
Without knowing more and having read the article. Life goes on. Your past failings do not necessitate one to build your life around it. Interests we have can make us do things that bring us into overall less fortunate situations that are paradoxically also against our interests. Now, do not read any of these as me being favorable of a rapist. Just wanting to give perspective. There is also something to be said about bygones be bygones as cruel as that sounds, but he seems to be free currently. So he either did his time or it is less than certain if he did and a judgement is still withstanding. Edit.: having read it now my points above still stand. Punishing people outside of court when they were already sentenced is outside of whatās necessary. Past misgivings also do not keep one from being a role model, if the current behavior is up-to par. People may not like that and may stick it to people for eternity, but that rarely translates well into the current situation.
Iām sure ālife goes onā doesnāt apply to his child victim. This isnāt like spilling a tin of beans. Raping children is about as bad as it can get when it comes to offences. How a UK court gave him just 4 years and the Netherlands letting him out after 1 is incomprehensible. No I donāt think child rapists should be allowed to rebuild sorry, especially not being supported during the Olympics.
Rapympics
Sick
France could show that Olympic Games are important and ask him to be disqualified. But like for Romanski, Depardieu or Darmanin they donāt care about rapists (and Macron is even proud of Depardieu).
I mean...who is Macron married to.
The IOC is one of the worldās most corrupt organizations. Russia literally undermined the integrity of the games with systemic cheating and only got a slap on the wrist. I like the idea of the Olympics but the organization and people who run the games have no morals and only want to line their pockets.
Sickening to have a "man" like that represent my country on an international level. Disgusting to see him being sent to the Olympics.
The guy's absolute lack of remorse is chilling. Which makes me wonder whether what he did would have been a criminal offence if he had done it in the Netherlands. I see that the age of consent is 16 but it seems like there are exceptions if the older person is also a teenager, which he was, just. I don't particularly wish to Google further on the subject, but are there any Dutch people here who could explain the law on the topic?
19 years is a adult, not a teenager.
By definition, a teenager is someone between 13 and 19 years old. You can be an adult by law and a teenager at the same time.
[https://www.protection-of-minors.eu/de/rquest/1](https://www.protection-of-minors.eu/de/rquest/1) Das ist Blƶdsinn.
Teenager =/= Jugendlicher. Wird dir zwar als Ćbersetzung ausgegeben, wenn du aber nach der Definition von Teenager suchst ist es die oben genannte von 13 bis 19.
Die Definition kommt auch aus einem Land in dem du erst ab 21 alle Rechte eines erwachsenen hast. Und selbst dort wirst du mit 19 nach dem Erwachsenenstrafrecht behandelt.
Das ist richtig. Der Fehler liegt aber in der ersten Aussage, dass das Recht zwischen Teenager und nicht Teenager unterscheidet und nicht darin, dass man gleichzeitig Teenager und adult sein kann. Die Definition kommt einfach aus dem Englischen und hat mit dem rechtlichen Unterschied zwischen Erwachsenen und Jugendlich nichts zu tun.
This is an English language subreddit. Your link is irrelevant. "Teenager" is not a legally defined term. I'm not saying that 19 year olds are minors, I'm saying they're [teenagers](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teenager).
You can repeat it as often as you want; law regulates exactly the borders of minors, teenager and adults.
You dont want to google it but can judge his lack of remorse; which he clearly states he has loads of remorse every time this gets brought up with him? Anyways, yes, the law applied to teenagers is different especially if they get help, treatment and show rehabilitation. Which is exacrly how a justice system should work instead of just locking people up and not giving a shit.
Wow, very easy to throw around empty sympathies when you've ruined a child's life and have faced no real consequences given the gravity of the crime. I do believe in rehabilitation when it comes to certain petty crimes but this is one of the instances where the act is so severe and outside of any socially acceptable behaviour that he shouldn't get a chance to simply move on from what he's done. Besides, he was an adult when the act took place.
I seriously hope you get locked up. It would be good for you to reflect that change is part of life and i also hope you never get the chance to do so. Just as you are projecting to this guy in the same position.
It's unbelievable but 100% true. They are shameless and should be shamed. I hope the commentators of all countries will introduce him as the child rapist. Despicable that the Dutch volleyball association blatantly shows that when you're good at a sport any crime you commit, no matter how heinous, is excused!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Not something where you're literally supposed to represent your country on the international stage. People who go to the Olympics should be an inspiration for young people.
They can get fucked. First, he should be in prison. Second, there are enough jobs that don't require him to represent his country, he could go into waste management or something like that.
He was wasnāt he?
12 months for raping a 12 years girl? Sounds like he got away with a slap on the wrist.
So he wasnāt sentenced and punished?
And all the bad things he did wiped clean, right? He's a normal citizen than should proudly represent his country at Olympics. I don't know if I were Dutch if I wanted my country to be represented by a registered sex offender.
Arenāt people who a society punished, well, already punished? I didnāt read anywhere that there were additions to his prison sentence in the article. Also, kinda funny that the words of an english judge donāt apply about a manās future in another nation, but that may be just me.
He did his prison term, but he's life-long pedophile. I don't think known pedophiles should represent countries at Olympics, like I said if I were Dutch I would not want a pedophile to represent my country even if that meant one less chance for a medal.
Being a pedophile is not being punishable, I know you want to punish people who havenāt commited a crime or want to make them bleed for who they are, but you should remember that you and me live in relative peace, because criminal persecution requires a crime to be committed. As for who you want to represent you at the Olympics that is up to you and the nation you are a part of. If we look at America we can see what lifelong persecution and stigma does to a country. The perpetrator in this case could have done with another three or four years, but to all your misgivings about the situation it does not change the fact that he is again a normal citizen.
> I know you want to punish people who havenāt commited a crime He did. Once a child rapist always a child rapist, serving time doesn't wipe that.
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As it should be.
Is he still representing Netherlands?
It should spread more awareness until he dequalified
He should be disqualified, he's ruining a whole countries reputation.
My turn in 5 days. Where are you in the queue for reposting?
I donāt agree with this monster of a person getting any stage anywhere. But I guess in a pure judicial sense, when the man has served his sentence and is free again, he can probably do anything he wants, accept working with children that is. That is kind of the way it works. Although my gut tells me this guy should live a sober life outside any spotlight.
Nah man this guy is a fuckin scumbag I honestly hope he dies a painful death he deserves nothing less..
Bump
I know Iām gonna get downvoted to oblivion, but I really donāt see what the big deal is. The guy was convicted and did his time. What would be the reason to disqualify him? Do we now require that all Olympics participants will have no criminal record? Should we now allow criminal courts to also sentence people to never working again, on top of prison time and fines? This guy is a piece of shit, I donāt doubt it, I just think even pieces of shit should be allowed to have a life and a career after their conviction.
I am seeing far too much apologetics for child rapists on these threads. You think serving 1 year and then being able to represent your country at the Olympics is a suitable punishment for raping a child? Fuck that noise.
I think itās up to the courts and the legislators to determine what a suitable punishment is, not the reddit mobs. And once thatās served and done, people should get their rights back. Thatās how legal systems are supposed to work. I donāt think you understand what apologetics is, but hey youāre probably not alone in this, maybe Google terms before using them in unfitting ways.
Yes and a year served for raping a child doesnāt seem to be a fitting punishment does it? The Dutch Olympic committee also has the right to not select him.
I agree with you that it seems low, but that doesnāt change the fact that he served his time according to whatever his countryās laws and courts decided. Itās not up to the Olympic committee to say ā5 years? Thatās enough, join in! 1 year? Nope, too low!ā.
I mean he did a terrible thing but that article is hilarious. It's basically about British feelings being hurt because of the judge looking like an idiot now after making unsolicited remarks \[which I guess is customary for judges\]. And the defence lawyer, saying "The headlines say it all: "A sex monster!" " LOL I don't know, maybe that's normal under common law but for me this feels highly unprofessional, to share your personal opinion on your client.
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As an ex-convict, in quite a few European countries he may not be eligible for not only public service occupations but jobs in the private sector where the employer specifies that they seek applicants without a criminal record. (Exceptions can be crimes committed by kids and adolescents, as the juvenile records are usually sealed to give you a can slate at 18.) So if he has a criminal record, itās quite cringe that he is considered as someone totally okay to carry on the spirit of olympics, while in real life if he applied as night janitor at a financial instution, he would be rejected.
I'm not a big fan of the idea of double punishment, yet I can see the outrage in light of the severity of his crime.. I think at some point people should be allowed move on when they have done their time, but it seems people just want public lynchings. If we by default judge people based on their former wrongdoings, I doubt they will ever have a chance to become better humans.
The then 12 years old victim may still have complex PTSD and require medication/continuous therapy to carry on in life. While I am with you, the guy deserves to have a regular day job or to continue his pro sport career after he served the court ordered time, I disagree that he deserves to be an athlete in the Olympics. Making the Olympics team is a privilege, and naturally not all professional athletes from a country can make the cut. Giving the spot to a convicted rapist instead of someone else could even send a message to young people that crime is okay, if you rape or assult someone, you can still have the highest honor in international sports.
Because it's pretty bad representation for the Netherlands to send a convicted pedophile but moreso: Because the Olympics are a very public event and this just means the victim has to be confronted with her rapist again. Let him play volleyball sure but why select him for the Olympics? I don't want my country represented by a pedo.
I'm torn on this one, on one hand he is a monster, who hasn't spent nearly enough time in jail for the vile thing he has done, and he isn't fit to represent a country. On the other hand, nothing in the rules says an ex-convict can't participate in the olympics. If it were up to me tho I wish he was still in jail right now instead of playing voleyball.
man wtf ššš
Because being an olympic athlete is avout representing your country. And as the articles states one of the terms the athlete has to sign is to act like a rolemodel. In this case the Netherlands representative and rolemodel is a rapist pedophile.
So people think you should be banned from competing if you are a convicted criminal? Where is the sense in that?
Yes, child rapists should not represent their countries at Olympics, is that a controversial opinion?
Not for all crimes but definitely for raping a 12yo girl wtf He probably traumatised her for the rest of her life
Stealing a loaf of bread fair enough. Raping children is a bit of a line in the sand for me.