A schoolgirl was drugged and repeatedly raped by three men who lured her into their car with the promise of a cigarette after spotting her alone in an Asda car park, a court heard.
Ivan Turtak, 38, Kevin Horvath, 25, and Ernest Gunar, 27, allegedly passed the child around ‘like a receptacle’ as they subjected her to vile sexual abuse.
Canterbury Crown Court heard the men were ‘complete strangers’ to the girl who was ‘targeted and exploited’.
They drove her in Horvath’s Skoda to Turtak’s flat in Dover, Kent, after promising to give her a cigarette, the court was told.
It is alleged she was then taken to Gunar’s caravan on Arthur Street in Folkestone, Kent, where she was plied with illicit substances, subjected to more rape and other sexual acts.
It was said the men threatened to kill her if she tried to escape or call for help and took a picture of her standing naked in a bath tub.
Turtak has pleaded guilty to taking an indecent image of a child but denies raping her, reports KentOnline.
Horvath admitted three charges of rape and one of assault by penetration for the girl but pleaded not guilty to sexual assault of a child.
Ivan Turtak (pictured), 38, Kevin Horvath, 25, and Ernest Gunar, 27, allegedly passed the child around ‘like a receptacle’ as they subjected her to vile sexual abuse
It is alleged she was then taken to Gunar’s caravan on Arthur Street in Folkestone, Kent, where she was plied with illicit substances, subjected to more rape and other sexual acts
Turtak has pleaded guilty to taking an indecent image of a child but denies raping her, reports KentOnline
Gunar pleaded guilty to one offence of rape but denies assault of a child by penetration, sexual assault of a child, and two offences of rape.
Horvath allegedly abused the girl in his car, and the court heard she was not wearing her own clothes when police found her.
Tests revealed traces of crystal meth and THC – the psychoactive compound in cannabis – in her system.
On Monday, Prosecutor Hannah Llewellyn-Waters told the jury the defendants’ conduct towards the child was ‘callous, degrading, and exploitative’.
She described how the young girl was led to the car, plied with drugs, and abused in her ‘vulnerable’ state.
The court was told the girl did not initially tell police the truth about the abuse when she spoke to them.
She instead told them she had been in Folkestone and having not slept, changed into clothes she found in charity donation bag left on the street.
When she was later challenged over this, it came to light she had given various accounts to both her family, police and in an entry in her diary, including being attacked and abducted in a park.
It was said the men threatened to kill her if she tried to escape or call for help and took a picture of her standing naked in a bath tub (Pictured: Ivan Turtak)
Tests revealed traces of crystal meth and THC – the psychoactive compound in cannabis – in the child’s system (Pictured: Ivan Turtak)
The jury also heard the girl had been seen appearing to be ‘having fun’ with Horvath and Gunar at a hotel swimming pool, according to police enquiries.
Ms Llewellyn-Waters said while the child gave differing accounts, the central part of her claim that the defendants targeted her and gave her drugs to make her compliant for their sexual abuse still ran true.
She added: ‘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.’
The prosecutor argued the three men demonstrated both their sexual interest in the little girl and that the offending behaviour occurred, in light of them admitting to specific offences.
The trial continues.
