A former nursery worker who kicked, pinched and purposefully dropped children as young as 10 months old has been found guilty of child cruelty. Roksana Helena Lecka abused multiple babies and toddlers at two separate nurseries in Twickenham and Hounslow between October 2023 and June 2024.
The 22-year-old, of Avro Place, Hounslow, was caught on CCTV repeatedly causing children to cry by nipping and scratching them and roughly placing them on the floor. The footage also showed Lecka vaping less than a metre from a small baby on more than one occasion.
Photos taken by worried parents further showed the extent of her cruelness, with numerous children in her care left with red marks, bruises and scratches. Lecka was arrested at her West London home on July 5 when a colleague shared their concerns with the Metropolitan Police.
She denied the allegations and was bailed, pending further enquiries by the force’s Child Abuse Investigation Team. They soon uncovered ‘prolific’ offending, including CCTV footage showing her kicking a young boy in the face and stepping on his shoulder.
Lecka was further arrested on July 25 with multiple counts of child cruelty and actual bodily harm, as well as one count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. This was later amended to 24 counts of child cruelty against 24 separate children.
The Early Years Educator was found guilty of 14 of these counts at Kingston Crown Court today (Monday, June 16). She previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of cruelty towards a person under the age of 16 at the start of her six-week trial.
Caused the families ‘more pain and confusion’
The shamed caregiver will appear at the same court on Friday, September 26 to hear her sentence. Detective Inspector Sian Hutchings, of Met Police’s Public Protection Command, described Lecka’s treatment of ‘”defenceless children” as disturbing.
She said: “Despite being given multiple opportunities to do so, Lecka never admitted to her offences during the course of the investigation or gave any real insight into what caused her to do this. This has added more pain and confusion to the victims’ families.
“These families left their children in Lecka’s care, trusting her to take protect their children as well as the other staff at the nurseries clearly did.”
She went on to praise the “strength” of the families who sat in court and watched the pain inflicted on their children.
Gemma Burns, of the Crown Prosecution Service, added: “Lecka repeatedly showed exceptional cruelty in her appalling treatment of these babies. No parent should have to fear leaving their child in the care of professionals, but the sheer scale of her abuse is staggering.
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