Evil trio plied schoolgirl with crystal meth and threatened to KILL her if she tried to escape before she was found by police ‘frightened and terrified’
THREE Slovakian men have been convicted of subjecting a 12-year-old girl to a horrific three-day rape ordeal after luring her from an Asda car park with the promise of a cigarette.
Kevin Horvath, 26, and Ivan Turtak, 38, spotted the vulnerable youngster in Dover on August 11, 2024, and encouraged her to get into their car before driving her to a squalid flat and caravan where she was repeatedly raped.
The schoolgirl was passed between the three men “like a receptacle” and plied with crystal meth and amphetamine while being subjected to degrading sexual acts over 72 hours of hell.
LURED WITH PROMISE OF CIGARETTE
The court heard how Horvath and Turtak were “complete strangers” to the girl when they spotted her alone in the Asda supermarket car park in Dover.
After Turtak waved at her from their Skoda, they lured her into the vehicle with the promise of a cigarette before driving to Turtak’s flat in Dover.
There, prosecutor Hannah Llewellyn-Waters said the vulnerable youngster was “used, abused and discarded like trash” by the gang.
She was passed around and treated effectively as a receptacle for their own sexual gratification, and the defendants’ conduct was callous, degrading, and it was entirely exploitative,” Ms Llewellyn-Waters told Canterbury Crown Court.
DRUGGED AND DEGRADED
At Turtak’s flat, the girl was given what she thought was cocaine before being forced to perform a sex act on him in a bedroom.
The 38-year-old then photographed her naked in his bathtub after telling her to wash herself – an image later found on his phone by police.
She was then driven by Horvath to his cousin Ernest Gunar Junior’s caravan on Arthur Street in Folkestone, where the nightmare continued.
The trio plied her with drugs including crystal meth, amphetamine and cannabis while subjecting her to multiple rapes and degrading sexual acts.
DEATH THREATS
Throughout the ordeal, the men threatened to kill the schoolgirl if she tried to escape or call for help.
“I didn’t want them to hurt me. They had suggested that if I were to try and get help they would hurt me,” the girl told the court during recorded testimony.
Even when taken out in public – including to a hotel swimming pool where she appeared to be “having fun” – she was warned she would be killed if she tried to talk to anyone or run away.
Her phone was confiscated and later found hidden in Horvath’s car.
FILMED WHILE DRUGGED
In a particularly vile act, Horvath filmed the girl while she was in a drugged state.
The court heard she had been treated “like a receptacle” as the men callously passed her around for their sexual gratification.
When she was finally found by police on August 13, she was not wearing her own clothes and tests revealed traces of crystal meth and THC – the breakdown product of cannabis – in her system.
BRAVE ESCAPE
The girl managed to escape after waking up before her captors on August 13 and was found by police in Dover.
Detective Constable Linda Gavin, who interviewed the traumatised child, told the court: “She was extremely upset, frightened, reluctant to speak. She was just frightened – a frightened child.”
The girl was initially too terrified to reveal the full extent of her ordeal, with details only emerging gradually through several police interviews where she broke down in tears.
DNA EVIDENCE
After their arrests, DNA belonging to all three defendants was found on the girl’s torso, clothing and intimate body areas.
Despite the overwhelming evidence, the men tried to claim during the trial that the girl had lied about her age and was a willing participant.
Turtak told the court: “I have my own wife and I love her. I don’t do such things to children.”
OUTRAGEOUS DEFENCE
In court, the men’s lawyers made a series of outrageous claims, suggesting the 12-year-old had:
- Lied about her age, claiming to be 19 or 20
- Helped herself to drugs in the flat and caravan
- Undressed herself willingly
- “Gestured” at Gunar to join in while being raped by Horvath
The brave schoolgirl denied all these vile suggestions during recorded cross-examination.
GUILTY VERDICTS
After more than 14 hours of deliberation, the jury saw through their lies:
IVAN TURTAK, 38, of Dover:
- Convicted of oral rape of a child under 13
- Previously pleaded guilty to taking indecent photos of a child
KEVIN HORVATH, 26, of Dover:
- Convicted of sexual assault of a child under 13
- Previously pleaded guilty to three charges of rape of a child under 13 and one charge of assault by penetration
ERNEST GUNAR JUNIOR, 27, of Folkestone:
- Convicted of two charges of rape of a child under 13
- Previously pleaded guilty to one charge of rape of a child under 13
- Found not guilty of assault by penetration and sexual assault
MOTHER’S HEARTBREAK
The girl’s mother revealed how her daughter had told her she “wanted to die” after the ordeal.
Visibly shaking with tears rolling down her face, she described her child as being “absolutely terrified” as she waited to speak to police about what the men had done to her.
She recalled the devastating moment she was told her daughter had been “kidnapped, drugged and raped.”
FACING LENGTHY SENTENCES
Judge Sarah Counsell remanded all three men in custody and ordered reports to consider whether they pose an ongoing danger to the public.
They will be sentenced on September 12 and face lengthy prison terms for their horrific crimes.
Senior Crown Prosecutor Catherine Wear said: “The three defendants took a 12-year-old from the street, took full advantage of her, plying her with drugs and using her for their own horrendous gratification.
“None of us can underestimate the impact this has had on her. When she was first found by police, she was unable to tell them what she had been put through, as she was so scared.
CHILD CANNOT CONSENT
The law is clear – a child under the age of 13 cannot consent to sexual activity under any circumstances.
These three monsters will now pay the price for their depraved actions against an innocent child who should have been safe walking in her own community.
