Van de Velde was booed and jeered while competing at the Games. Dutch Olympic officials went to lengths to protect him from the press during the event.

He has now opened up to Dutch publication NOS about his experience, admitting that while he anticipated backlash, the intensity of it took him by surprise. "I definitely had a moment of breaking down, both before the tournament and during it. But I thought ‘I’m not going to give others the power to bully me away or get me away’.

  • Flying Squid
    25•30 days ago

    The child in question only seems to regret he was arrested, and cut herself because of it.

    You really do not understand the psychology of a rape victim.

    https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/why-bad-looks-good/202105/why-some-rape-victims-continue-to-date-their-rapist

    She doesn’t seem to think negatively about him at all, and because of that he was not convicted of grooming.

    How do you know what she thinks today? There is a reason many countries do not consider a 12-year-old to be able to consent to sex. They don’t understand sex. They don’t understand rape. They may have only been menstruating for less than a year.