Ofcom is looking into complaints after a GB news guest likened a Dutch paedophile volleyball player’s rape of a 12-year-old girl to that of a ‘holiday romance’.
Broadcaster and writer Emma Woolf made the comments about convicted child rapist Steven Van de Velde, who made his Olympic beach volleyball debut in Paris.
Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after admitting three counts of rape against a 12-year-old British girl, when he was 19.
Speaking on GB News’s mid-morning Britain’s Newsroom show, Ms Woolf said: ‘I know 12-year-olds who are sassy and act like they’re 16-year-old girls.’
She then added: ‘It [the rape] actually sounds like an inappropriate, very inappropriate, romance thing.’
Van de Velde’s inclusion in the Dutch team has promoted social media outrage and crowds have booed the now 29-year-old whilst he has been on court, something which ‘must be a deeply uncomfortable experience for him,’ Ms Woolf suggested.
She also claimed the Olympian had ‘turned his life around’ since the conviction and believed calling him a child rapist was ‘a bit strong’ and not language she would use to describe him.
Ms Woolf added: ‘If I was judged for everything I did between the age of 12 and 19, I’d probably be in prison or something serious.’
The regular GB News guest also said the rape was wrong and Van de Velde was rightly convicted.
The exchange has since been shared on social media and Ms Woolf was accused of ‘victim-blaming’.
Martina Navratilova, the former tennis champion, wrote on X: ‘Representing your country is an honour, not a right. This man dishonours his country and dishonours the whole ideal of being someone for kids to look up to – and Emma is trying to blame the 12 year old girl for the rape. Absolutely deplorable.’
Ofcom confirmed it had received complaints over the discussion, broadcast on Monday.
A spokesman said: ‘We are assessing complaints against our broadcasting rules, before deciding whether or not to investigate.
Last week, BBC pundit and Olympian Paula Radcliffe apologised with a grovelling statement on Thursday after she wished luck to Van de Velde.
Former World and European champion runner Radcliffe, in Paris for the broadcaster, admitted she was ‘wishing him the best of luck’ during a shocking radio interview with LBC.
‘It’s a tough thing to do to punish him [van de Velde] twice and if he’s managed to successfully turn his life around after being sent to prison and to qualify and be playing sport at the highest level, then I actually wish him the best of luck,’ she said.
After sparking huge backlash for her staggering comments — and rejecting claims that Van de Velde should not be competing — Radcliffe posted an apology statement on social media.
have approached GB News for a comment.