Convicted child rapist to represent Dutch Olympic beach volleyball team: 'An exemplary professional'

Fox News Flash top sports headlines are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com.

Steven van de Velde will represent the Netherlands in the Olympics next month, eight years after being convicted of raping a 12-year-old.

In 2014 and less than a week before his 19th birthday, Van de Velde flew to England to meet the victim, where he raped her after giving her alcohol. He first met the victim on Facebook.

He was sentenced to four years in prison two years later but was released after just one year. He is a registered sex offender in the U.K. for the rest of his life, and the victim has since self-harmed and once overdosed.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM

Steven van de Velde saves the ball during the men's final match between Evandro Goncalves Oliveira Jr. and Arthur Diego Mariano Lanci of Brazil and van de Velde and Matthew Immers of the Netherlands at the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour Elite 16 2024 in Brasilia, Brazil, May 5, 2024. (Lucio Tavora/Xinhua via Getty Images)

"I cannot reverse it, so I will have to bear the consequences. It has been the biggest mistake of my life," he said in 2018.

He returned to competing in international competitions shortly after his release from prison in 2017. Now, the Dutch volleyball federation, Nevobo, says van de Velde "meets all the qualification requirements for the Olympic Games and is therefore part of the team."

"He was convicted at the time according to English law, and he has served his sentence. From then on, we have been in constant contact with Steven, who has now been fully reintegrated into the Dutch volleyball community," Nevobo said in a statement. 

"He is proving to be an exemplary professional and human being, and there has been no reason to