A NURSERY worker who attacked 21 babies including one she kicked in the face four times has been jailed.
Roksana Lecka left the children with scratches to their faces and necks and pinch marks on their inner legs and stomachs.
The nursery worker attacked 21 babies[/caption]
She also kicked one young boy in the face and stomped on him in footage that left the courtroom horrified.
The 22-year-old was accused of “badly harming” the tots over a six month period while working at the Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, South West London.
Parents of the babies who were abused have condemned her “sickening” crimes and branded her the “worst kind of human”.
Lecka has now been jailed for eight years today after she was found guilty of 14 counts of child cruelty after previously admitting seven charges.
Kingston Crown Court heard victim impact statements from the parents of the 21 babies during Lecka’s sentencing hearing today.
One mother who took to the witness box looked directly at Lecka and said: “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.”
Chilling footage showed Lecka being arrested at her home after CCTV emerged of her abusing the children.
She could be seen smirking as officers talk to her before one cop tells her she has been accused of assaulting babies.
Lecka replies: “Yeah I have heard about that”.
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 mother 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.”
The defendant requested a break part way through the statements.
She was seen with her head in her hands before leaving the dock.
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”.
She was previously cleared of three counts relating to three children at Kingston Crown Court.
The nursery, which charges up to £1,900 a month to look after children aged up to two years, follows the Montessori method of teaching.
Separate footage shows the nursery worker sat in her police interview answering “no comment” to every question.
She also fails to show any emotion when shown pictures of the horror injuries she inflicted on the children.
The court heard there were no apparent safeguarding issues when Lecka was hired.
She told a court she would be moody if she could not vape at work[/caption]
But last summer, CCTV of the baby room appeared to show the worker pinch a child – leaving them with red marks.
In footage played to the court, Lecka could also be seen pinching the legs, back and under arm of a girl who can be seen crying.
Further footage showed her pinching the side of a girl’s face and grabbing her hair.
Lecka can be seen vaping in another clip before she took a baby from a crib and pinched and punched her side.
One victim was sat at a table when Lecka repeatedly pinched her – causing the girl to cry, it was said.
She then grabbed the girl by the arm and pulled her hair so her head made contact with the table.
The court heard Lecka was “looking around” at other members of staff to see who was “watching when these assaults occur”.
One colleague reported seeing the worker assault a boy by pinching his legs – leading the headteacher to check CCTV.
Jurors were told the footage showed Lecka also pinching his nose, body, wrist, and mouth.
Police trawled through a month’s worth of CCTV and discovered the babies had been “badly treated in some way”.
They also seized a pair of trainers Lecka had used to kicking a baby four times in the face and step on his shoulder.
In her evidence, Lecka told the court she would “smoke cannabis quite regularly with my boyfriend”.
She said: “At that time 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.
‘It would be a couple of puffs and then I’d put it away… I would put it in my bra.”
She also told the court how she was “so tired” at the time and was not getting any sleep.
Lecka claimed she was “addicted” to her boyfriend so was “over-prioritising” him.
Her lawyer also claimed she was “worn out, had bad period pains, was short of energy, she was not her normally bubbly self”.
But prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC told jurors that smoking cannabis and not being able to vape were “excuses” for the alleged offences.
She added: “It is clear her actions are deliberate or at the very last careless, but on most occasions we say deliberate.
“There are, of course, some clips where Ms Lecka – as we put it – keeps going back for more.”
Lecka was arrested on July 5 last year and said in a prepared statement: “I deny assaulting any children at the Riverside Nursery…I went into work that day and had a normal day. There were no accidents where any child seemed hurt.
“We have procedures for the handling of the children, which I adhered to. I am unaware how any injury to these children were caused.”
Lecka admitted two charges of child cruelty but denied 21 further offences.
Lecka denied all the charges against her[/caption]
The offences are said to have taken place at Riverside Nursery in Twickenham[/caption]
