Three men are facing lengthy jail terms after being convicted of repeatedly raping, abusing and drugging "a vulnerable and frightened child".

Although Kevin Horvath and Ernest Gunar had accepted having sex with the victim, and Ivan Turtak admitted he photographed her naked in his bath, they denied what the prosecution described as "targeted exploitation".

Horvath and Gunar, who are cousins, told Canterbury Crown Court the girl was a willing party and had lied to them about her age, while Turtak maintained he had not forced her to perform a sex act on him.

But a jury at Canterbury Crown Court saw through their outrageous claims - as well as Turtak's tears when he gave evidence - and returned guilty verdicts today (Thurs) after deliberating for more than two days.

The men, all originally from Slovakia, were told by Judge Sarah Counsell that a report to consider dangerousness was required before deciding the appropriate sentences to be served.

During their trial, the court heard the girl - who cannot be identified for legal reasons - was subjected to her two-day ordeal after Horvath, 26, and Turtak, 38, spotted her alone outside an Asda supermarket last year.

They were "complete strangers" to the youngster and, having been enticed into Horvath's Skoda with the promise of a cigarette, she was taken to Turtak's flat in Dover and then 27-year-old Gunar's squalid caravan in Folkestone.

As well as being given illicit substances and subjected to degrading sexual acts, including rape in Horvath's car, she was threatened she would be killed if she tried to run or raise the alarm.

The court heard the youngster, who was also filmed in her drugged state by Horvath, had been treated "like a receptacle" as they callously passed her around.

When she 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.

DNA belonging to the defendants was also found on her torso, clothing and intimate body areas.

Prosecutor Hannah Llewellyn-Waters said the vulnerable youngster had been "used, abused and discarded like trash" by the three men.

She also told jurors that "at the core" of her accounts to police of what had happened was the fact the defendants had targeted her and then given her drugs to "facilitate compliance" with their sexual desires.

"She was passed around and treated effectively as a receptacle for their own sexual gratification, and the defendants' conduct was callous, degrading, and it was entirely exploitative," added Ms Llewellyn-Waters.

The jury found Turtak, who lives in Dover, guilty of oral rape and Horvath, also from Dover, of sexual assault of a child.

Gunar, from Folkestone, was convicted of two rape offences but found not guilty of assault of a child by penetration and sexual assault of a child.

Before their trial got underway in April, Turtak had admitted taking an indecent photo of a child, Horvath had pleaded guilty to three offences of rape and one of assault by penetration, and Gunar had admitted one rape charge.

Jurors heard that when the schoolgirl first spoke to police, she did not reveal the abuse she had suffered.

However, over the course of several interviews in which she broke down in tears and showed obvious signs of distress, she was slowly able to divulge what each man had subjected her to, and how she felt "scared, terrified and worried".

Turtak, she recalled, gave her what she thought to be cocaine before forcing her to perform a sex act on him and then taking a photo of her as she washed herself in his bath.

She was then driven by Horvath to Gunar's caravan in Arthur Street and given further drugs, including cannabis, before enduring further depravity at their hands.

Her ordeal was interspersed with being taken by the two men to a cafe as well as a local swimming pool.

But she said she feared being hurt if she alerted anyone to her ordeal.

During recorded cross-examination by lawyers representing the three men, she denied she had lied about her age or helped herself to drugs in the flat and caravan.

She also refuted suggestions she had undressed herself and, while engaged in sex with Horvath, had "gestured" at Gunar to join them.

The girl said the reason she had not shouted for help at any time was because Gunar had threatened to kill her.

She told the court: "I didn't want them to hurt me. They had suggested that if I were to try and get help they would hurt me."

Evidence was also given during the lengthy trial by one of the officers involved in interviewing the youngster.

Det Con Linda Gavin said: "She was extremely upset, frightened, reluctant to speak. She was just frightened - a frightened child."

Turtak was the first to be arrested. He denied any sexual activity with the underage victim, or giving her drugs, and said: "I have my own wife and I love her. I don't do such things to children."

He also broke down in tears in court when he claimed that, on finding the schoolgirl unexpectedly in his bath, she had asked him to take a photo of her naked so she could send it to a friend.

Following Horvath's arrest, he claimed the girl had told him she was 20, and revealed how he had filmed her on his phone, telling police it would "save" him.

But the footage, which was played in court, showed the girl to be shaky, slurring her words, expressing a wish to die, and repeatedly asking for a joint.

Although Horvath could be heard refusing her demands while asking her to do simple sums this was, said the prosecutor, an attempt "to determine the levels of her intoxication" and "sober her up ready for release".

In court, the former Dover port worker denied he had acted as "a facilitator" among his co-defendants.

He also maintained the youngster was not "child-like" and appeared like a "fully-formed woman" when naked.

Gunar was arrested at Glasgow Airport as he prepared to take a flight to Dundee. On being cautioned, he said he had "not raped anyone" but later admitted he was planning to flee the country.

Giving evidence to the jury, the former Folkestone Harbour Arm security worker denied being a "paedophile or child predator", or having plied the girl with drugs, removed her clothes or raped her multiple times.

He said he had done nothing wrong other than to have sex with an underage youngster who had told him she was 19.

The three men were remanded in custody until their sentencing hearing on September 12.