Young girl 'enticed into car at Asda and subjected to rape ordeal by three men', trial told

A young girl was plied with drugs before being repeatedly raped by three men who passed her around "like a receptacle" for their sexual gratification, a court has heard. Ivan Turtak, Kevin Horvath and Ernest Gunar are alleged to have "targeted and exploited" the child after spotting her alone in an Asda supermarket car park. Canterbury Crown Court heard the men were "complete strangers" to the youngster and, having been "encouraged" into Horvath's Skoda with the promise of a cigarette, she was taken to Turtak's flat in Dover and Gunar's caravan in Folkestone, given illicit substances and subjected to rape and other sexual acts.

Threats to kill her were made if she tried to run or raise the alarm, it was said, and a photo was taken of her standing naked in a bath. She was also abused by Horvath in his car. When the girl was finally located by police, she was not wearing her own clothes and tests revealed traces of crystal meth and THC - the breakdown product of cannabis - in her system.



Turtak, 38, Gunar, 27, and 25-year-old Horvath, who is also from Dover, are on trial accused of various sexual offences. Opening the case against them on Monday, prosecutor Hannah Llewellyn-Waters told the jury that the defendants' conduct towards the youngster was "callous, degrading and exploitative". Describing how the alleged ordeal unfolded, she explained: "She encountered Ivan Turtak and Kevin Horvath in a supermarket car park.

She was encouraged, the prosecution say, to get in their car. "She describes how thereafter she was given drugs and passed between them for their sexual gratification. "It is the prosecution case that she was vulnerable.

She was alone with far older men, and she was a target for sexual exploitation." The court heard that when she first spoke to police, the girl did not reveal the abuse. Instead, she claimed she had been in Folkestone, had not slept and had changed into clothes she had found in a charity bag at the roadside.

But after she was challenged about this, she then gave "varied" accounts to her family, to police when formally interviewed, and in a diary entry. These included having been attacked in a park and abducted. The jury also heard that police enquiries revealed she had been seen with Horvath and Gunar at a hotel swimming pool and appeared to be "having fun".

But Ms Llewellyn-Waters said that although the child's accounts of what had happened differed, "the core of her allegations ran throughout" - namely that the defendants targeted her and gave her drugs to "facilitate her compliance" with their sexual desires. "We say that she was passed around and treated effectively as a receptacle for their own sexual gratification, and the defendants' conduct, in the Crown's case, was callous, degrading, and it was entirely exploitative," added the prosecutor. Turtak, of George Street, denies rape of a child, while Horvath, of King Street, has pleaded not guilty to sexual assault of a child.

Gunar, of Sidney Street, denies assault of a child by penetration, sexual assault of a child, and two offences of rape. But the jury also heard at the start of their trial that several offences relating to the same girl had been admitted. Turtak has pleaded guilty to taking an indecent photo of a child in relation to the bath image, Horvath has admitted three charges of rape and one of assault by penetration, and Gunar has pleaded guilty to one offence of rape.

Ms Llewellyn-Waters said by virtue of those pleas, the three men had demonstrated not only their "sexual interest" in the youngster but also "as a matter of fact" that offending behaviour occurred. The issue for the jury to decide, she added, was whether the exact sexual activity they denied had in fact happened. Referring to the first account given by the girl to police after she had been located, and those that followed, the prosecutor explained: "You will hear that she didn't disclose what had happened to her at that stage.

"But once home she started to tell her parents of the sexual interaction with the defendants. "You will hear, and there's no mystery or secret to it, she gave varying accounts to her parents when she started talking about it and then to the police. "She initially told her parents that she had been abducted from the park before being sexually assaulted.

"At first she was reluctant to speak to police but when she was video interviewed told them she got in the car in a supermarket car park and largely described the sexual acts on the indictment. "She described how she was first taken to a flat and orally raped by Ivan Turtak before then going on to a caravan and being repeatedly raped and subjected to sexual acts by Kevin Horvath and Ernest Gunar. "She alleged she was given drugs by the defendants and the compounds of crystal meth and cannabis were found to be in her system.

" The court heard her later accounts to police detailed how Horvath had told her "not to worry" as he drove off, and that once at Turtak's flat she was given cocaine, taken into a bedroom, and forced to perform a sex act on him. Horvath, she said, then took her to Gunar's caravan where the two men raped her - a charge they have both admitted. The abuse continued, as did the drug taking, until she said Horvath drove her back to Turtak's address and, having been left alone in the car, she escaped out of a window.

In her diary entry, written when she was unable to tell her mum face-to-face about what had happened, she detailed the alleged rape by Turtak and how, after telling her to shower, he took the photo of her. She also wrote about how Horvath, who she described as "the skinny man" - drove her to a car park and raped her in the vehicle. Turtak was the first to be arrested.

He initially told police he had only been out gambling at the relevant time. But, when shown the Asda car park CCTV, he said he had asked Horvath to take him to buy cigarettes. He then told police there was "a child" in the car, she was drinking and, because he was "scared", he got out and did not see her or Horvath again.

Turtak also denied having any sexual activity with her, or giving her drugs, and said: "I have my own wife and I love her. I don't do such things to children." However, he could not explain how the girl had been able to describe the inside of his flat and accused her of lying.

Horvath was the next to be arrested. On being booked into custody, he told officers he had had sex with the girl but that she had said she was 20 years old. He also referred to a video on his phone which he said "I think will save me".

Ms Llewellyn-Waters told the jury it showed the pair in his car. The girl appeared to be shaky and was voicing her desire to get out and to die. At one point she asked for a drink and cannabis, and Horvath could be heard asking her to do simple sums in an attempt, said the prosecutor, "to determine the levels of her intoxication".

When formally interviewed by police, he replied 'No comment' to most of the questions asked but denied he had raped the girl or given her drugs and alcohol. The Skoda was searched and inside police found the girl's phone and a bottle of Jack Daniel's. The caravan that she had been taken to was later located in Arthur Street in Folkestone, a road adjacent to where Gunar lived.

The girl had told police that while she was there, he also appeared to be selling drugs. Gunar - who she described as "the fat one" - was arrested at Glasgow Airport as he prepared to take a flight to Dundee. On being cautioned, he said he had "not raped anyone" and appeared upset, the jury heard.

Later, in a prepared statement given to Kent Police, he detailed how he had first met the girl when she was with Horvath in his car. He described her as being "completely normal" throughout the time they were together and that she had told him she was 18 years old. Gunar said he let the pair stay in his caravan and, when he woke to see them having consensual sex, she asked him to join in.

He also told police that he felt "sorry" for them, that he suggested taking them to a cafe for lunch and then went swimming, with the girl wearing his mum's costume. When asked by officers if he had a sexual interest in children, he laughed, the court was told. The trial, which is expected to last up to four weeks, continues.

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