Nursery worker who pinched, scratched and kicked 21 babies jailed for 8 years

A ‘sadistic’ nursery worker who abused 21 babies in her care has been jailed for eight years.

Roksana Lecka, 22, ‘badly harmed’ children while employed at the £1,900-a-month Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, south-west London, which has since closed.

She also assaulted another at the Little Munchkins Montessori Nursery in Hounslow, west London.

Jailing her, Judge Sarah Plaschkes KC said Lecka should never be allowed to work with children again.

She told her: ‘You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots. You caused bruising and lingering red marks.

‘When you committed these acts of cruelty you would look at the other members of staff to make sure that they were not watching you.

‘Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain causing the child to cry, arch, try to get away or writhe around in distress.

‘Time after time you calmly watched the pain and suffering you have caused. Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic.’

Her crimes were uncovered in June last year after she was sent home for pinching a number of children and appearing ‘flustered’ at Riverside.

Jurors were shown CCTV of Lecka pinching children and scratching them under their clothes on their arms, legs and stomachs.

Footage of one ‘writhing’ in pain drew gasps from parents watching in the public gallery at Kingston Crown Court.

In another incident she kicked a little boy in the face several times.

She was also seen to push babies head-first over cots and cover a toddler’s mouth when he started to cry.

Lecka admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted of another 14 following a trial.

Jemma Till, a lawyer at Irwin Mitchell representing parents of some of the children harmed, said they were ‘deeply shocked’ and ‘traumatised’ by what their sons and daughters experienced.

Several took to the witness box to read impact statements.

One looked directly at Lecka in the dock, saying: ‘These children were so innocent and vulnerable.

‘They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them.

‘They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.’

Another mother, referencing the CCTV footage, said: ‘This really highlighted how defenceless all the children were and how sickening Roksana’s crimes were to target such young babies.’

The court heard from a different mum that some of the CCTV showed babies ‘reach back out to Roksana after she hurt them’.

She said: ‘I think Roksana is a huge threat to society.

‘It is objectively shocking that she has been hiding in plain sight in society up until she was arrested. I think all of us can agree that only the worst kind of human would assault vulnerable babies.’

Many expressed their fears over what further abuse their children may have endured.

One father told the court that his wife ‘always says’ if Lecka had not been caught ‘she could have gone on to seriously injure or even kill’.

Parents detailed the guilt they feel about placing their children in Lecka’s care, with one mother, whose son the defendant kicked in the face, telling the court: ‘We weren’t there to protect them.’

The court heard one family has moved away from London altogether, while other sets of parents have suffered breakdowns in their relationship, after Lecka’s actions.

Others spoke of now finding it difficult to trust people to care for their children, with one mother saying she has flown her parents out from Panama to look after her daughter while she was away on a business trip.

And several told of experiencing their children pinching them, and how they wonder whether that is something they learned from Lecka.

The court has heard evidence that Lecka was not her ‘normal bubbly self’ towards the end of June.

Giving evidence, Lecka said she would ‘smoke cannabis quite regularly with my boyfriend’ until very late at night.

She said: ‘I was really addicted to vapes, I would smoke two little crystal disposables a day. I was vaping in nursery. Because if I did not smoke, I would get agitated and fed up.

‘I couldn’t keep asking to go to the toilet. Any opportunity I would take. I would be really moody and fed up.’

At one point was seen vaping a metre away from a young baby.

Of one alleged assault, in which she is said to have ‘smacked’ a young girl while vaping, she said: ‘I had two to three tokes, that would be my normal amount. I did not smack her. I put my arm around her really quickly.

‘I do not accept smacking her in the face. I think she’s distressed and tearful because she’s just woken up from a nap.’

But prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC asked jurors in her closing speech to consider whether the footage showed ‘innocuous or innocent squeezes’, like Lecka claims, or pinches and rough treatment.

‘If she was tired, grumpy and feeling put upon by others, is what we see her taking it out on children by hurting them?’ she added.

‘There are, of course, some clips where Ms Lecka – as we put it – keeps going back for more.’

Arlette Piercy, defending, told jurors in her closing address that there were times when Lecka ‘could simply not cope – she had not slept enough, she had been burning the candle at both ends, she was under too much pressure and she cracked’.

She said Lecka has expressed remorse and cited her previous good character and young age in mitigation.

The court heard Lecka wrote a letter to the court saying she has reflected on her actions, wanted to apologise to parents and that cannabis turned her into a different person.

Ms Piercy told the court that Lecka has been attacked in custody, describing her experience in prison as having been ‘extremely challenging’, and said she has spent time in the vulnerable prison wing.

Detective Inspector Sian Hutchings of Met Police’s Public Protection Command said: ‘Today’s sentencing concludes a complex and emotional investigation.

‘The victims in this case are just babies, with the youngest being just 10 months at the time of the offences.

‘Something which our officers have found shocking throughout this investigation is Roksana’s lack of accountability and her inability to explain her unjustifiable actions.’

Ms Till said: ‘We welcome today’s sentence and hope it acts as a warning that perpetrators of such abuse will be caught and punished.

 ‘However, serious questions remain as to how Lecka’s abuse was allowed to go unchecked for several months.

‘Now that the criminal case has concluded, our focus is now on securing families, who will continue to be affected by Lecka’s actions for years to come, with the further answers they deserve.’

Lecka was also found not guilty of three counts of child cruelty.

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