r/nottheonion • u/DerangedUnicorn27 • 6d ago

Convicted child rapist qualifies for Olympics

https://www.newsweek.com/steven-van-de-velde-dutch-beach-volleyball-olympics-1918442
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u/sunshine10zeros 6d ago

Supposedly groomed her for two years, meaning it started at 10 years old… wtffffffff

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u/MIdtownBrown68 6d ago

The Netherlands—not big on long prison sentences. They’re more about rehabilitation.

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u/I_lurk_on_wtf 6d ago

Can’t rehab degeneracy

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u/BearOnTwinkViolence 6d ago

Maybe this is the hottest of all hot takes but I actually appreciate that they’re trying to rehab sex offenders versus just putting them on a list.

I don’t know if you can “fix” pedophilia but if someone can at least be given resources and counseling to prevent them from reoffending, I think that’s a good thing. Obviously this dude shouldn’t be in the Olympics but I’m not going to be upset that they tried to fix him. His sentence should’ve been longer IMO though.

I just feel like we focus so much on punishing pedophiles that we forget to talk about preventing them. I want them punished and they should be, but I’d much rather live in a world where people didn’t reoffend.

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u/fieldy409 6d ago

Men at work unprompted sit around talking about the brutal torture they'd do if they ever caught one, talking about breaking glass bottles inside them and other stuff it's like damn imagine the terror if you had those urges you'd never seek therapy

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u/BearOnTwinkViolence 6d ago

And those men are usually the ones who have countdowns to a girl’s 18th birthday and don’t see the irony in it.

Pedophilia is embedded in our culture. It’s much more pervasive than people realize. The sexualization of young teenage girls is so common that we don’t bat an eye when men talk about how hot some 19 year old is. We think that turning 18 magically makes you an adult.

If we actually looked at pedophilia as who’s attracted to children (and not who has raped a child) then we have a pretty big problem on our hands.

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u/fieldy409 6d ago

Nah don't say that counting down to 18 thing about people you don't know that's a wild accusation to casually throw.

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u/BearOnTwinkViolence 6d ago

I didn’t aim it any individual, I said men who brag about the ways they’d torture pedophiles are usually into young girls themselves. 🤷🏼‍♂️ Sorry if that bothers you but there’s a very strong correlation between the normalization of violence and the sexualizarion of young people.

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u/fieldy409 6d ago

Yeah I don't like it because I'm talking about guys I know, I think they're all right.

It's a pretty common thing to have torture fantasy over someone irredeemable. I can disapprove but I don't think it's right to damn them as groomers or I'd be damning 99% of the world you know?

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u/Suitable-Juice-9738 6d ago

I think they're all right.

You just described what utter monsters they are.

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u/fieldy409 6d ago

Nope. Just flawed humans.

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u/Suitable-Juice-9738 5d ago

You know what man I dig that. I've changed my mind.

Not an ounce of sarcasm. I was wrong.

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u/MrBump01 6d ago

Ideally you'd want the people who have those thoughts to know they can go somewhere to get help before they do anything to act upon them. Obviously in this case the person has acted upon them and shown no remorse so a lengthy prison sentence and permanent ban from travelling out of the country would make sense. This needs to be highlighted by the other competing nations.

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u/SnooStrawberries620 6d ago

Pedophilia is a disease without a cure. The Dutch are known for being child sex trafficking’s best customers in Southeast Asia along with British and Americans for a long time now.  Better to take all the hope for humanity, all the celebration of the human spirit, and all those accolades and put them towards the girl who managed not to commit suicide before adulthood as a result of this pig. Elevating him to any sort of status is absolutely disgusting and expect the Dutch to all have to suffer for his actions at the Olympics. But if they are all supporting him then they can go down with the ship.

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u/[deleted] 6d ago

[deleted]

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u/Zoomwafflez 6d ago

I feel like this is a shovel and shut up situation

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u/Stair-Spirit 6d ago

Pedophiles can't reoffend if they're imprisoned for life. Seems like a solid solution to me.

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u/BearOnTwinkViolence 6d ago

Ok and what about people who haven’t offended yet? You’re missing what I’m saying about prevention.

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u/Stair-Spirit 6d ago

Idk man, I'm just saying that they shouldn't be let out of prison after committing

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u/BearOnTwinkViolence 6d ago

That’s my point. That’s where the conversation always stops. It’s not productive. Everyone has strong opinions on punishment but no one can be bothered to care about prevention. Y’all want blood, not to protect the kids.

I’m all for lifetime imprisonment. What now? How do we prevent this from happening to other kids?

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u/Stair-Spirit 6d ago

Dude the only point I'm making is that convicted pedophiles shouldn't be let out of prison, as there is no rehabilitating that behavior. There's nothing else I have to say, and I am done arguing with you. Go find someone else to bitch at lol

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u/BearOnTwinkViolence 6d ago

You’re the one who responded to me, you fucking weirdo. You started this conversation.