Ernest Gunar

Ernest Gunar, 27, from Folkestone, Kent, was sentenced at Canterbury Crown Court with Kevin Horvath and Ivan Turtak for subjecting a 12-year-old girl to over two days of abuse, including repeated rapes after luring her from a supermarket car park. The father-of-two, along with his co-defendants, gave the vulnerable child illicit drugs and forced her into degrading sexual acts at locations including Turtak's flat in Dover and Gunar's squalid caravan.

The victim was threatened with murder if she resisted or raised the alarm. She escaped through a car window and was discovered by police in a distressed state, with traces of drugs and the defendants' DNA on her body. Gunar pleaded guilty to one count of rape but was convicted after trial of two more rape charges, oral rape, though found not guilty of assault by penetration and sexual assault of a child.

In June 2025, the jury convicted the men, rejecting their defence that the girl was a willing participant who lied about her age. Gunar was jailed for 19 years with three years on extended licence and an indefinite restraining order. He faces potential deportation post-sentence. The Crown Prosecution Service highlighted the severity of the exploitation of the child's vulnerability.

Source: KentOnline, published 30 September 2025. Picture: Kent Police.