A 22-year-old British daycare worker has been found guilty of abusing 21 infants, including kicking a child in the face and stepping on his shoulder.
The Guardian reports that Roksana Lecka, from Hounslow, confessed to seven instances of cruelty to children under the age of 16 and was also found guilty of 14 more charges by a jury at Kingston Crown Court.
Lecka’s abusive behavior came to light last June when she was sent home from Riverside Nursery in Twickenham for pinching children and acting “flustered,” according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
Metropolitan Police reviewed nursery CCTV, which showed Lecka pinching and scratching children under their clothes.
In other incidents, she kicked a boy in the face repeatedly, pushed infants over cots and covered a crying toddler’s mouth.
Detective Sergeant Geoff Boyle stated that “video footage revealed Lecka committing numerous assaults on the children she was responsible for, including repeatedly punching and grabbing them, roughly putting babies into their cots, and on one occasion, delivering several kicks to a young boy’s face and stepping on his shoulder.”
BBC reports that Lecka admitted to smoking marijuana before her shift started, while CCTV footage also showed her vaping near an infant.
Lecka worked at the nursery from January to June 2024, according to BBC. Within months of her start date, several parents reported unusual bruising and injuries on their children.
Further, another incident reportedly happened at her previous job at the Little Munchkins nursery in Hounslow.
“The sheer scale of her abuse is staggering,” Gemma Burns of the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.
“Lecka repeatedly showed exceptional cruelty in her appalling treatment of these babies… the CPS put forth compelling evidence that clearly showed her targeting children when colleagues were either out of the room, or had their backs turned.”
Lecka has been ordered to never work with or around children again. Her sentencing has been scheduled for September 26.
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[Feature Photo: Roksana Lecka/Met Police]
