Dutch child molester Steven van de Velde wins Olympic beach volleyball match despite boos

Dutch beach volleyball player Steven van de Velde, who served a prison sentence for raping a 12-year-old girl, won his second match at the Paris Olympics but was loudly booed on each of his serves.

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Van de Velde and his partner Matthew Immers, ranked number 10 in the world, were greeted with loud heckling during their 21-19, 21-16 win over Chile. Despite some support from Dutch fans, the overall reaction was more hostile than during their first match on Monday, a narrow loss to Italy.

Background story

Van de Velde, 29, served 13 months in prison after being convicted in 2016 of three counts of rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl he met on Facebook when he was 19.

Player reaction

“I was of course disappointed with the crowd,” van de Velde’s partner Immers told the Associated Press. “I can’t change anything about his past. I’m here to play with him… So, yes, I’m disappointed. But I think mentally we are really strong, and I’m really strong enough to get through this together. And we will do it.”