Just a heads up. Today's episode contains distressing themes, including discussions of child sexual abuse. Listener, discretion is advised already And this is the Daily This is the Daily os Oh, now it makes sense.
Good morning and welcome to the Daily Odds. It's Thursday, the thirtieth of October.
I'm Lucy Tassel, I'm Emma Gillespie.
The Federal government has rejected the visa of a Dutch beach volleyball player due to a conviction of child rape. Stephen van Dervelt had sought to enter Australia for the World Beach Volleyball Championships in Adelaide, being held in November. In today's episode, we explain the context behind the government's decision, including Van der Veldt's crime, his sentencing, and his continued athletic career.
Lucy, this story has been bubbling away for a few few weeks now. There was a change dot org petition that emerged in the last few weeks essentially seeking to block this beach volleyballer, Stephen Vandervelt from entering Australia. So can you take me back to the start. Who is this guy and what do we need to know about him.
So. Stephen van Derveld is a beach volleyball player from the Netherlands. He's represented his country at the highest level. He's currently thirty one years old, and most importantly, he is a child sex offender. Back in twenty fourteen, he was nineteen at the time, so an adult. He repeatedly messaged a British twelve year old girl on Facebook. They had kind of met on Facebook, and he then flew
to England where he raped her. His defense team later argued that the girl had consented, but given she was a twelve year old child at the time, she could not actually give consent.
So, Lucy, I'm assuming this obviously went to based on the fact. You know, you've mentioned defense team, a legal team. How did authorities get involved in the first place?
Yeah, So Vandervelt told the girl to take the morning after pill and given her age. When she went to a local clinic, staff alerted authorities. He was already on his way back to the Netherlands at that time, so he flew in one day the rape occurred. He went back home straight away. In February twenty sixteen, he pleaded guilty to three counts of child rape. He was sentenced to four years in jail in March of that year, twenty sixteen.
Wow, that is extremely disturbing but fascinating that authorities really only learned about this because that young young girl went to a clinic seeking the morning after pill.
Yes, so then at the time the judge said, quote, she was a child age twelve. You were fully aware of that fact. You were a potential olympian. You had the possibility of a stellar future presenting the Netherlands, referring that to the then upcoming twenty sixteen Summer Olympics.
We'll be right back with more of today's deep dive right after a quick word from our sponsor, So Lucy, there were the twenty sixteen Summer Olympics. I'm assuming Van der Veld missed those because he was sentenced to imprisonment following that child rape incident. But we're obviously talking about him today nearly ten years later. So he has served his time and made a return to professional sport. How did that unfold?
A year into his four year sentence, Vandervelt was allowed to return to the Netherlands to serve the rest of his time.
Okay, so he went to a UK prison because that's where the crime occurred.
Yeah, so he had been extradited to the UK to face charges. He pleads guilty, he serves a year of jail time under a treaty between the two countries. He was then returned to the Netherlands to finish out the sentence. But something I didn't know about until researching this story is how different the laws governing child sexual abuse were in the Netherlands at the time. Specifically, they have since
been updated in some respects. So Vandervelt's actions were then considered less serious under Dutch law as they would have been under British law. They were classified as basically in decent assault. Some of the other sources I was looking at said fornication, which is kind of an archaic word. I think that might have just been a translation thing.
But the general gist that I got is that this was something that was considered rape under British law in decent assault under Dutch law, okay, And that meant that soon after he returned to the Netherlands to serve out his time, his sentence was reconsidered essentially under Dutch law, because if he was serving time there, then he was under their law. That meant that. About a month after returning to the Netherlands, he was freed from jail and
his professional sporting care continued. In fact, he was named to the Dutch beach volleyball team for the twenty twenty four Paris Olympics.
Wow. Yeah, what was the reaction like to that from within the sporting world.
Within the sporting world, it was a mixed reaction. People booed him at his events at the Games, and he stayed outside of the athletes village and at the time, the head of Australia's Olympic team, Ana Mears, said words to the effect of if that had happened here, you wouldn't have been allowed to compete. But obviously the Netherlands Volleyball Association had a different perspective ahead of the games kicking off, they said. Quote. After his release, Vandervelt sought
and received professional counseling. He has demonstrated to those around him privately and professionally self insight and reflection, they also said. Quote. In twenty sixteen, Van Derveldt was convicted in England of having sex with an underage girl, which who is rape under English law and fornication under Dutch law, so you can really see there are these two different standards that are being applied to the same crime depending on the country.
In the Anti did compete and the men's beach volleyball team came ninth.
So all of that was last year. We're talking about the July Paris Olympics. It's now more than a year later and his presence at a sporting event has caused disruption and dispute. Again, this is a professional athlete who is a convicted child sex offender. What has happened in the last few weeks? Why is he back in the headlines.
Vandervelt was selected to represent the Netherlands at the World Championships of Beach Volleyball that are taking place in Adelaide next month, and he's got a partner in this because it's the paired sport, Alexander Brewer. A petition was then started by activist group What Were You Wearing Australia to block him from entering the country on the grounds that
he has this child sexual abuse offense. As that petition picked up steam, South Australian Attorney General Kaya Mar wrote to the federal government asking it to cancel Vandervelt's visa he said, quote, this individual's offending is utterly abhorrent and we do not believe that foreign sex offenders should be granted entry to this country. We've discussed on this podcast
before when we were talking about Candice Owens. Yes, the federal government can refuse visa's Minister Tony Burke, the Home Affairs Minister has a few different grounds to refuse someone entry to the country.
Absolutely. That role is set up basically to give the Home Affairs Minister a range of powers to decide when or if someone should not be allowed into the country.
Yeah. So one of those reasons is if they believe allowing someone to enter Australia would not be in the best interests of Australian children, and the minister can flag a character concern which can include I'm quoting directly from the Act here, a court in Australia or a foreign country has convicted the person of one or more sexually based defenses involving a child. So obviously Van Dervelt has
three charges of child rape in the UK. That would be the grounds and that is why we believe his visa has been rejected.
Okay, so his convictions immediately meet those qualifications. For a visa cancelation. What has the reaction been like? Because obviously he still competes as a professional athlete in some countries and obviously in his home country, but there is this international event in Adelaide that he is now excluded from. What's the reaction been like.
The Dutch Volleyball Association confirmed the decision. It said it quote regrets the outcome but accepts it. Van Dervelt also said he understood why this had happened. He said his criminal conviction made approval quote a problem. The Netherlands have withdrawn from the event as his teammate can't compete without him.
It's a paired sport. And Volleyball Australia acknowledged the ruling, saying it was awaiting a decision from the International Beach Volleyball Association on the possibility of a quote replacement team. I think to make up the numbers in the brackets.
Wow, a very disturbing, fascinating story. Thank you so much for taking us through that one today, Lucy. Thanks Emma, and if today's episode has raised any concerns for you, help is available through one eight hundred respect on one eight hundred seven three seven seven three to two or during business hours on weekdays. You can also contact the Brave Hearts hotline for adult survivors of child sexual abuse. They're available on one eight hundred two seven two eight
three one. We will of course put those numbers in the episode description. That's it for today's Deep Dive, but we will be back this afternoon with your evening headlines. Until then, have a good day.
My name is Lily Madden and I'm a proud Arunda Bungelung Chalcottin woman from Gadigal Country. The Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the Gadigal people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and torrest Rate island and nations. We pay our respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past and present.