Kevin Horvath, 26, Ivan Turtak, 38, and Ernest Gunar, 27 were all convicted after a trial at Canterbury Crown Court, when prosecutor Hannah Llewellyn-Waters told jurors that the vulnerable youngster had been “used, abused, and discarded like trash”
Three men who kidnapped a 12-year-old girl from an Asda car park before subjecting her to a 72-hour rape ordeal after she was pumped with drugs, have today been jailed for a total of 53 years.
Kevin Horvath, 26, Ivan Turtak, 38, and Ernest Gunar, 27 were all convicted after a trial at Canterbury Crown Court, when prosecutor Hannah Llewellyn-Waters told jurors that the vulnerable youngster had been “used, abused, and discarded like trash”.
Speaking out after they were found guilty, the girl’s parents have said their once confident and outgoing daughter has become a shadow of her former self. They revealed she is now afraid of the dark, terrified of being alone, and can only settle at night if she sleeps in their bedroom.
They youngster had been lured into their car in an Asda car park in Dover, Kent by Horvath and Turtak, was given drugs, including crystal meth and amphetamine, and repeatedly raped and subjected to sexual acts by the pair, along with Gunar.
The torment began on August 11 and did not end until August 13, when the girl bravely managed to escape through a window – despite the men telling her they would kill her if she tried to flee.
Ms Llewellyn-Waters said: “She was passed around and treated effectively as a receptacle for their own sexual gratification, and the defendants’ conduct was callous, degrading, and entirely exploitative.”
Speaking after the men’s convictions, her mum, who can’t be named to protect her daughter’s identity, said: “She doesn’t want to do anything now. She doesn’t leave the house without me, her dad, or his dad. She won’t go out of the house other than that.
“She dragged her mattress into our bedroom when she was found. She slept in my room. She’d wake up crying and screaming in the middle of the night.”
When the traumatised girl was first found, she initially claimed she had “walked to Folkestone and back”. But once she was safely home, she broke down and told her parents what had really happened. Her mum said she was “absolutely terrified” while she waited to tell police exactly what Turtak, Horvath, and Gunar had put her through.
Her mum added: “She was absolutely terrified. Telling me that she wanted to die. She went very withdrawn – a completely different child.”
The girl’s parents said they have always been protective of their daughter and never allowed her to go out much by herself. The most freedom they had given her was a walk to the nearby park or a brief shopping trip with friends – where she was always picked up and dropped off by an adult at pre-agreed times.
Her dad said: “We’d never let her just go out. Our main thing would be getting her friends to come to us. They used to come to us a lot, didn’t they?” Her mum added: “We’d always have to make sure we knew where she was, who she was with. Normally, we’d get her friends to come round, because we’ve got a garden here.”
During the trial, Canterbury Crown Court heard how the girl was abused across three locations: the car she was lured into, Turtak’s flat in Dover, and a “dirty” caravan in Folkestone.
Despite the girl’s vivid testimony, Turtak claimed she had lied about her age – and said he, Horvath, and Gunar would never have spoken to her if they had known she was 12. But jurors convicted him of rape of a child under 13. He had already pleaded guilty to taking indecent photos of a child.
Meanwhile, Horvath, who had previously pleaded guilty to three charges of rape of a child under 13, and one charge of assault by penetration of a child under 13, was also convicted of sexual assault of a child under 13.
Gunar, who previously pleaded guilty to one charge of rape of a child under 13, was convicted of a further two charges of rape of a child under 13.
The girl’s parents say she has been incredibly brave following her ordeal – which was made more traumatic by the invasive process of gathering evidence. She endured intimate medical examinations, forgoing baths or showers so that forensic evidence could be collected, and underwent stringent medication regimes and blood tests to reduce the risk of her contracting a deadly infection like HIV or hepatitis.
Speaking of the moment she managed to escape, her mum said: “She was very brave to chance her arm and think, ‘I can get out of this’. She said she sat there for a couple of minutes – debating whether to try it. In the end she said she ‘just knew she had to get out’ so she just went head first through the window.”
Today, Turtak and Hovarth were each jailed for 17 years with an additional three years on extended licence. Gunar was jailed for 19 years with an additional three years on extended licence.