A UK mother broke down in court as she shared the harrowing experience of her young daughter, who reportedly expressed thoughts of wanting to die after being allegedly drugged and r*ped by three men who lured her into a vehicle.
The men—Ivan Turtak, 38, Kevin Horvath, 25, and Ernest Gunar, 27—are accused of attacking the teenager after targeting her in an Asda car park, treating her “like a receptacle,” according to the prosecution.
The trio, described as “complete strangers,” allegedly offered her a cigarette before driving her in Horvath’s Skoda to Turtak’s flat in Dover, Kent. She was later taken to Gunar’s caravan in Folkestone, where, it is claimed, she was drugged and assaulted.
The victim eventually managed to escape the ordeal two days later, prompting her family to report her missing. Her mother, whose identity cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, tearfully recounted the moment she learned her daughter had been “kidnapped, drugged, and r*ped.”
She told the jury, “My daughter was absolutely terrified. She wanted to die and became very withdrawn, a completely different child.”
The mother shared that her partner found their daughter in Dover, dressed in different clothes from when she went missing. Upon hearing of the attack, she immediately contacted the police.
She recalled, “The clothes she came home in were not what she was wearing when she went missing. I made her change and put her old clothes in a bag for the police, and I had her provide a urine sample. I knew we had to act quickly to ensure these men would be caught.”
In his testimony, the girl’s father described her harrowing experience, which included being taken to a “dirty caravan” with “yellow curtains,” where discussions about trafficking her abroad occurred. He stated that she escaped in the early hours of the morning when her captors fell asleep.
“She said she ran for ten minutes before seeing a sign that read ‘Welcome to Dover,’” he told the court.
Earlier, jurors were informed that the three men are accused of “targeting and exploiting” the girl after enticing her into a car at the Asda. She was reportedly given drugs to aid compliance, coerced into sexual acts, and r*ped. The court also heard that she was threatened with death if she attempted to escape, and that Turtak had taken a naked photo of her in the shower, which he has admitted to.
Prosecutor Hannah Llewellyn-Waters stated, “The evidence suggests she was passed around and treated effectively as an object for their own sexual gratification. The defendants’ actions were callous, degrading, and entirely exploitative.”
Following his arrest, Turtak denied any sexual contact with the girl, asserting his loyalty to his wife. Horvath admitted to having sex with the girl but claimed she told him she was 20 years old. He has pleaded guilty to three counts of r*pe and one count of sexual assault, while Gunar has admitted to r*pe. Turtak denies raping a child, while Horvath denies sexually assaulting a child. Gunar has denied charges of sexual assault of a child, assault by penetration, and two counts of r*pe.
