Dutch team spokesman on Steven van de Velde not addressing media: 'We are protecting a convicted child rapist to do his sport as best as possible'

A Dutch beach volleyball player who served time in prison for having sex with a 12-year-old girl competed in his first match at the Olympics on Sunday, to a mixed response at the Eiffel Tower Stadium. Steven van de Velde, who was convicted of the rape in 2016, and his playing partner, Matthew Immers, lost their opening match to Italy.

Then Immers faced the press alone, a break from traditional International Olympic Committee (IOC) policy.

After the match, Dutch team spokesman John van Vliet was asked if van de Velde not speaking to the press was an effort to protect a convicted child rapist.

“We are protecting a convicted child rapist to do his sport as best as possible and for a tournament which he qualified for,” van Vliet said, according to the Associated Press.

He then provided a more detailed answer.

“The general matter of sex conviction and sex-related crime is definitely a more important issue than sport,” van Vliet said. “In his case, we’ve got a person who has been convicted, who did his sentence, who did everything afterwards which he can do to be able to compete again.”

The Associated Press broke down van de Velde’s background in the case:

Now 29, Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison after being convicted of raping a girl he reportedly got to know online. He served 13 months in prison.

After his release, the Dutch Olympic committee said Van de Velde met the conditions to return to competition after a conviction and resumed his career in 2017 “after an intensive professionally supervised process.”

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Dutch officials reiterated that the goal in keeping van de Velde from speaking to the press was to keep the focus on the sporting competition.

“We want to talk about sports, especially him,” van Vliet said. “We are very much aware that if we bring Steven out here it won’t go about his sport and his performance. We are here to create an environment for all our athletes in which they can perform well.”