TV star reported to Ofcom after calling Olympian’s child rape ‘very inappropriate holiday romance’

Ofcom are looking into whether to an investigate GB News guest Emma Woolf’s comments about child rapist Steven Van de Velde.

The criminal is taking part in the 2024 Olympics in Paris, an inclusion which has caused much controversy and was subject to debate on GB News.

The 29-year-old Dutch volleyball player  against a 12-year-old girl from Milton Keynes at Aylesbury Crown Court in 2016.

He met the schoolgirl on Facebook and flew to the UK in August 2014 before sexually abusing her at her home in Buckinghamshire and raping her at the nearby Furzton Lake.

He was 19 years old at the time, but told his victim he was two years younger, and knew how old she was.

Last month, Dutch volleyball association Nevobo gave Van de Velde their backing and said there was ‘no reason’ to exclude him from the Olympics, however, people have been left outraged, though GB News guest Woolf has attempted to defend him, comparing his crime to a ‘holiday romance’.

During a segment on the channel, she said: ‘I assumed he’d done it as a grown adult, a grown man, and that he’d groomed her, I don’t think that’s the case.’

‘It was wrong,’ she added, before saying: ‘If I was judged for everything I did between the age of 12 and 19, I’d probably be in prison or something serious.’

She added: ‘It [the rape] actually sounds like an inappropriate, very inappropriate, holiday romance thing.’

She also said that calling Van de Velde a ‘child rapist’ was ‘a bit strong’ and a term she wouldn’t be using.

‘He’s now grown up, he would be able to carry on with his job in any other walk of life, and it’s really hard when you make a mistake and you are never allowed to be forgiven,’ she continued.

‘This must be a deeply uncomfortable experience for him,’ she said, adding that he’s ‘turned his life around’.

Woolf went on: ‘I know 12-year-olds who are sassy and act like 16-year-old girls, he did know her age… I’m 50/50 on this.’

Her comments sparked uproar, and a spokesperson for Ofcom has since confirmed to Metro.co.uk: ‘We are assessing complaints against our broadcasting rules, before deciding whether or not to investigate.’

Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison after he was extradited to the UK and arrested in January 2016. He was jailed after his guilty plea in March 2016.

He was released from prison in 2017, having only served one year of his original sentence, and Van de Velde said a year later: ‘I cannot reverse it, so I will have to bear the consequences. It has been the biggest mistake of my life.’

Following the broadcast on GB News, viewers took to X to share their outrage over Woolf’s comments.

‘I really don’t understand how some women can be defending the indefensible,’ @RonyBzh said.

@mrs_topcat wrote: ‘Jesus Christ, what did I just watch? I’ve never heard of @EJWoolf before but I hope to god that she doesn’t have children.’

‘I’m so thankful I’ve never heard of Emma Wolf before now. What a hideous and vile woman,’ @Benand_rews added.

@VickyCarriage wrote: ‘@Ofcom are you seriously not going to shut this ‘news’ outlet down? They’re literally defending the rape of a child. Please do your duty and take them off the air.’

‘Appalling. Even by their (lack of)!standards,’ @jackiect57 added.

Metro.co.uk has approached Ofcom and GB News for comment.