Convicted rapist competing for Netherlands barred from speaking to media

The Dutch Olympic committee is taking measures to mitigate the impact of including a convicted rapist on their squad, a move that has sparked dismay among some women’s advocacy groups, its chef de mission said on Sunday.

Steven van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in Britain in 2016 following the rape of a 12-year-old girl two years earlier when he was 19.

After serving part of his sentence there, he was transferred to the Netherlands and his sentence was adjusted to the norms of Dutch law.