Eight years for sadistic nursery worker Roksana Lecka

The parent of a baby abused by a sadistic nursery worker told a court the woman should never have been allowed to work under the influence of cannabis.

Roksana Lecka, 22, was convicted of mistreating 21 babies in her care after being caught on CCTV pinching, punching and kicking her victims.

The nursery worker admitted seven charges of child cruelty and was found guilty by jury of 14 further counts after at trial at Kingston Crown Court.

The offences occurred between January and June 2024 at the Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, south west London.

Much of the abuse took place in the nursery’s ‘babies room’ and was directed towards children too young to walk or talk.

A single conviction concerned a child in another nursery she worked at in Hounslow, west London in 2023.

Lecka was arrested in June last year when colleagues sent her home for pinching a number of children.

She later confessed to police that she was smoking cannabis before her shifts and ‘didn’t remember’ attacking the children.

CCTV footage shows the 22-year-old vaping just one metre away from a young baby.

Senior crown prosecutor Gemma Burns previously said she had shown ‘exceptional cruelty’ to the babies.

‘No parent should have to fear leaving her child in the care of professionals, but the sheer scale of her abuse is staggering.’

Wearing a smart black blazer over a grey top, Lecka’s demeanour was sullen as she appeared at Kingston upon Thames Crown Court today (fri) to be sentenced.

Sat in the dock with her head bowed, Lecka listened to twenty-one victim impact statements written by parents of the abused children.

One parent said she ‘collapsed’ upon hearing her child was a victim of the 22-year-old’s physical abuse.

She spoke about ‘recurring nightmares’ of Lecka ‘standing over’ her child’s cot and ‘assaulting him’.

Another described the nursery worker’s abuse – caught on CCTV – as seeming ‘like a compulsion.’

‘Every opportunity she had to assault my child or one of the other children, she took it’, she added.

The court listened as one mother described the ‘worst’ aspect of Lecka’s offending being the children’s ‘haunted, confused expressions: those questioning eyes asking, ‘why would someone hurt me?’

‘We had trusted our child to a nursery that was supposed to nurture him but instead he was subjected to cruelty.’

She referred to ‘sustained, repeated violence towards not just our son but towards the other children.

‘What should have been a time of joy – his first steps, first words, first little adventures – has been clouded by this trauma.

‘This crime has changed the way we view the world, it has changed how we parent.

‘I hope this court recognises not just the violence of the acts but the betrayal of trust and lifelong emotional consequences that come with it.’

A mother who chose to read her victim impact statement aloud to Lecka in court spoke about feeling ‘robbed of happy memories during the time Roksana worked at the nursery.

‘That time period – January to June 2024 – is now tainted for me by what has happened or what could have happened.

‘It is clear Roksana sought to hurt them and they were victims that can’t fight back, that can’t ring the alarm and don’t understand why this is happening to them.’

She said Lecka’s actions were ‘sickening’ and her lack of remorse ‘left me speechless.

‘Her clear lack of regard for most of the children was quite shocking.’

One victim impact statement referred to anger ‘not just towards Roksana but the nursery.’

‘There were so many times Roksana should have been dismissed, if she was showing up to work under the influence of cannabis, but she wasn’t,’ the parent said.

A mother who also opted to read her statement directly to Lecka, said: ‘I struggle to get those images of babies in pain and fear out of my head.

‘(My child) was defenceless and unable to ask for help when he needed it – as his Mum who carried him, gave birth to him, nurtured him with my body and who will love and care for him forever – feel completely heartbroken by Roksana’s cruelty.

‘It is objectively shocking that she has been hiding in plain sight in society up until she was arrested.

‘Many of us agree only the worst kind of human would assault vulnerable, defenceless babies who hadn’t learned to talk.

‘I saw babies even reach back out to Roksana for comfort after she had hurt them – they didn’t understand hate and pain, I believe she chose the victims because they could not defend themselves.

‘Her complete lack of remorse leading up to and throughout the trial has been disgraceful.

She comes across as someone who is devoid of empathy and after seeing the footage, is dangerous and violent.’

Another mother struggled through tears as she told the court: ‘The children were so innocent and vulnerable – they couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us, as parents, to let us know something had happened to them.

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

The father of a boy attacked by the nurse suggested that Lecka could have caused ‘serious injury’ or even ‘kill’ if her behaviour had been allowed to continue.

‘Dropping babies into cots headfirst or kicking toddlers in the head could have seriously resulted in serious injury.

‘It is our number one priority to keep our child safe and we will forever carry the guilt of knowing we exposed him to harm by sending him into a a situation where we were hoodwinked into believing he would be safe, when he was in serious danger at the hands of Roksana’, he said.

One mother referred to her daughter suffering ‘lots of injuries during her time at the nursery.

‘She had a bruise on her back the same size as my clenched first… on another occasion half of her fingernail was lifted off.’

She said she took her child to be checked for ‘Leukaemia’, such was her feeling that ‘something was wrong’ at the nursery.

Prosecutor Tracy Ayling said Lecka’s behaviour involved ‘prolonged or multiple instances of serious cruelty.

‘It was sadistic behaviour in the sense the actions of the defendant had no purpose or justification apart from inflicting pain and distress.’

Arlette Piercy, defending, said her client had ‘suffered significant bullying during the course of her four months incarceration’ and had been ‘attacked on more than one occasion.’

She referred to expert medical evidence suggesting ‘no long-term psychological or emotional harm to the victims.’

The barrister said Lecka’s ‘remorse’ would be a ‘matter for the judge’, but added: ‘She did express remorse in the context box for matters to which she had already plead guilty.

‘Writers of the pre-sentence report importantly assess her remorse as genuine,’ Ms Piercy added.

‘She is motivated to put this behind her and go forward in a law-abiding manner and play a significant role in society.’

Lecka was sentenced to eight years imprisonment for her ‘sadistic’ treatment of the 21 babies.

Judge Sarah Plaschkes KC said: ‘In a period of seven months from 19 October 2023 until 28 June 2024 you abused 21 children, all of whom were between 18 months and two-years old.

‘At that age, children are vulnerable because they cannot understand, let alone tell anyone, of their suffering.

‘Their parents and your employers trusted you to look after each precious and much loved child.

‘You violated that trust, you committed multiple acts of gratuitous violence – 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 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.

‘Time after time you calmly watched the pain and suffering you had caused.

‘Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic.’

The judge referred to ‘particularly appalling acts of child cruelty’ committed against a baby referred to in court as ‘child four’.

She described the nurse pulling the child along on a mattress after pinching him twelve times, causing him to cry.

‘You looked across at the other member of staff in your room to make sure she was turned away from you.

‘Then, you deliberately and forcefully kicked child four in the face as he lay helpless and vulnerable on the floor.

‘You turned around to see what was going on, you waited until she turned away, then you kicked him in the head again, and again, and again.

‘After you had kicked him four times in the face – you waited until you were not being observed, then you leant over and put your foot on the back of his right shoulder.

‘You transferred your weight to press him hard into the floor, you removed your foot as the other members of staff looked around.

‘You waited again and then kicked him for a fifth time in the face.’

Judge Plaschkes KC continued: ‘How did you come to be in a position to commit these offences?

‘You trained and qualified as a beautician, however you lost your employment in that field because you failed to turn up to work.

‘So, you began working as an unqualified member of staff in nurseries and in October 2023 you worked for an agency.

‘In January 2024 you applied for a job at the Riverside nursery in Twickenham as an unqualified nursery educator.

‘You provided three references and started work on 31 January.

‘You told the jury that you had become addicted to cannabis and addicted to vaping, however you did not tell the nursery – had you done so, you would not have been employed.

‘Instead you declared you were not taking any substances that could affect your ability to care for the children.

‘At first, everything seemed to be going well, but unexplained injuries began to appear on the children.’

The judge referred to Lecka tipping one child ‘headfirst into a cot and vaping over him.

‘You pinched him so hard he dropped to the floor crying.

‘Sat in the baby room, you picked up a toy which was a wooden block and started shaking it in front of his face.

‘When no-one was looking you repeatedly hit him in the face with it.’

She continued: ‘Many of the parents who attended the trial noted your lack of remorse in their impact statements.

‘You have written a letter to court that you have reflected your actions and that you wish to apologise to the families and saying the cannabis turned you into a different person.

‘Such demonstration of remorse comes very late is of minimal mitigation.’

In addition to her sentence the nurse was barred from contact with children or vulnerable persons for life

ENDS