A Slovakian paedophile living in Folkestone, Ernest Gunar Jr., 27, who abducted and sexually assaulted a 12-year-old schoolgirl over a 72-hour duration, had previously featured in a British taxpayer-funded rap video. He enticed his victim into a vehicle with the offer of a cigarette at an Asda car park in Dover last August, accompanied by compatriots Kevin Horvath, 26, and Ivan Turtak, 38.
The girl was assaulted in Kevin Horvath’s vehicle before being transported to Ernest Gunar Jr’s dilapidated caravan on Arthur Street in Folkestone, Kent, where she was administered illegal substances and endured several assaults and other humiliating sexual acts.
The trio was convicted of all charges last week.
During his adolescence, Ernest Gunar Jr rapped about the consequences of insufficient ‘respect’ for diverse cultures, which he asserted would lead to ‘racism and crime’ in a local initiative funded by the UK Government.
Featured in the ITV show Fixers, Ernest Gunar Jr, then 16 years old, received funding from the Cabinet Office’s Youth Social Action Fund during the tenure of Prime Minister David Cameron.
ITV’s Fixers collaborated with Ernest Gunar Jr as part of the Cabinet Office’s ‘Step Up To Serve’ initiative, which was led by the former Prince of Wales, King Charles III.
The sex offender stated: ‘In my opinion, adolescents can be swift to criticise one another and often fail to exhibit mutual respect.’
‘The result of this can be racism and crime and I believe that the barriers between different groups of young people need to be broken down.’
He created a rap song and video, accompanied by friends, many of whom also originally came from Eastern Europe, and said: ‘Some people will perhaps think they know one Slovak who is bad, so they consider us all to be the same.
‘But, we’re all humans and we shouldn’t judge others. We should respect them.’
The lyrics of the video focused on community and unity, with one line stating: ‘Magnify the world, different countries and religions. What we know and what we don’t, let’s mix-match our opinions’.
The music video showed Ernest Gunar Jr and several other teenagers singing and rapping while having a barbeque.
King Charles was the royal patron of Step Up To Serve, an initiative which called on adults across the UK to volunteer to help double the level of participation of young people in helping others.
It was supported by the Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Leader of the Opposition Ed Miliband.
Ernest Gunar Jr was born in Košice, the second biggest city in Slovakia, but came to the UK with his parents when he was aged three or four.
Ernest Gunar Jr created a rap song and video, accompanied by friends, many of whom also originally came from Eastern Europe.
A friend said ‘He produced the rap video with his friends when he was a teenager.
‘Ernest Gunar Jr was really interested in music. He wrote the song himself and it was about treating people from other countries and cultures with respect.
‘His friends in the music video went to the same youth club in Folkestone.
‘He himself was born in Košice in Slovakia but he came over to England when he was about three or four so he’s grown up here.
‘He has two older sisters and an older and younger brother. He also has children himself, though they live with their mother abroad.
‘Ernest was a good kid growing up, he wasn’t ever in any trouble. That is why everyone was so shocked that he was arrested and then convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl. There’s no excusing what he did, it’s horrific.
‘His parents have had a really rough time. His mother has a history of heart attacks and fainted when the police turned up at her house to look for her son. The officers had to take her to hospital.
‘His father has had threats made against him because he was arrested initially by mistake as he shares the same name as his son. There are three generations of Ernest Gunar, grandfather, father and son.
‘He was released without charge when the officers realised it was his son they were looking for. It’s had a really bad effect on his mental health.’
Ernest Gunar Jr was convicted last Thursday of two charges of rape of a child under 13. He had previously pleaded guilty to one charge of rape of a child under 13.
Kevin Horvath was convicted of sexual assault of a child under 13, after previously admitting three charges of rape of a child under 13 and one charge of assault by penetration of a child under 13.
Ivan Turtak was convicted of rape of a child under 13, following his guilty plea to taking indecent photos of a child.
The caravan in which the girl was raped was removed by police last year. It had been parked in a residential road close to where Ernest Gunar Jr had family.
One local said: ‘The caravan was there for a few weeks. The young man who owned it seemed very polite and well mannered when I spoke to him.
‘He told me that he was getting it ready because he was planning on going on a road trip to Germany.
‘I remember a few weeks later, hearing a huge amount of noise and looking out I saw the caravan was being loaded onto the back of a truck and taken away by the police.
‘Rumours then began swirling about what happened for the caravan to be removed but I didn’t believe any of it until I saw it all on the news.
‘What that young man I spoke to – and his friends – did to that young girl makes me feel sick to my stomach. I hope they stay in jail for a very, very long time.’
Another nearby resident added: ‘I used to see at least two men living in that little caravan. It looked a ramshackle set-up.
‘But they used to get Tesco food deliveries sent there and they’d leave socks and other bits of clothing hanging from the window to dry.
‘About 5pm in the afternoon once, I saw a woman – who looked to be aged in her mid-20s – grabbing on to an electricity supply box just outside the caravan and being sick onto the pavement. I don’t know what she’d been doing in there.
‘But people soon began hearing about what had happened to that 12-year-old girl in the caravan. Had the police not removed it, it would have been torched by the locals.’
The three men have been remanded in custody until their sentencing hearing on September 12.
Prosecutor Hannah Llewellyn-Waters told the trial at Canterbury Crown Court in Kent how their victim had been ‘used, abused and discarded like trash’ by the gang.
And her parents have since revealed how the girl ‘wanted to die’ after her 72-hour ordeal and now wakes up ‘screaming in the middle of the night’.
Speaking out for the first time, on Tuesday, they described how the assault has left her a ‘completely different child’ who suffers from night terrors due to her ordeal.
Her heartbroken mother 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 by police, 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 mother, who cannot be named for legal reasons, told how the girl was ‘absolutely terrified’ while waiting to tell police exactly what she had been put through – while saying to her parents ‘she wanted to die’.
The girl’s parents said they have always been protective of their daughter and never allowed her to go out much by herself.
Her mother added: ‘She just wants her justice now. I am so proud of her. She’s been incredible.’
Following last Thursday’s verdicts, the Crown Prosecution Service’s Catherine Wear said: ‘The three defendants took a 12-year-old from the street, took full advantage of her, plying her with drugs and using her for their own horrendous gratification.
‘None of us can underestimate the impact this has had on her. When she was first found by police, she was unable to tell them what she had been put through, as she was so scared, and the details only came out gradually after that.
‘Thanks to her courage in detailing what happened to her, despite the obvious distress that caused her, these three dangerous men have now been brought to justice for the appalling and callous crimes they committed against her.
‘We hope these verdicts bring some small comfort to her as she starts to rebuild her life.’
If you or anyone you know have been affected by the people highlighted in this article, then please report those individuals to the Police on 101 (999 if an emergency) or visit their online resources for further details of the options for reporting a crime. You can also make a report at Crimestoppers should you wish to be completely anonymous. There is help available on our support links page.