Nursery worker jailed for child abuse following Met Police investigation

The parents of multiple children have thanked the Met Police for “giving them a voice when they didn’t have one” on the day a woman is jailed for abusing them at nursery.

Roksana Helena Lecka, 22 (13.10.2002) of Avro Place, Hounslow appeared at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 26 September where she was sentenced to eight years in prison. She was previously found guilty of 21 counts of child cruelty after a Met Police investigation uncovered months of abuse she had inflicted on infants, while working in nurseries.

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.

“As a result of the hard work from our dedicated investigation team and our partners, this woman will no longer be able to harm children.”

Met officers were called to a nursery in Twickenham in June 2024, following concerns from members of staff about Lecka’s behaviour.

As enquiries unfolded, it was revealed that Lecka had been abusing children while working at two separate nurseries between October 2023 and June 2024. CCTV showed Lecka repeatedly pinching and hitting children, shoving them to the floor, pulling their hair, kicking them in the face and vaping towards their cots.

Fast paced enquiries continued with officers reviewing 300 hours of footage within 10 days. Statements were also taken from the children’s parents, some of whom provided images of injuries found on their children.

After these enquiries had taken place, Lecka was arrested at her home on 5 July on suspicion of child cruelty offences. During interview, she answered no comment to all questions after providing a prepped statement and refused to acknowledge her actions when shown the CCTV footage. She was released on bail and suspended from work while officers within the Met’s Child Abuse Investigation Team continued enquiries.

She was further arrested and interviewed after more evidence came to light and charged on 25 July 2024 with 12 counts of child cruelty, 12 counts of actual bodily harm and one count of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.”

Following an initial appearance in court, this indictment was amended to 24 counts of child cruelty against 24 separate children.

Lecka was convicted on Monday, 16 June of 21 counts of child cruelty. The jury found her not guilty on three counts.

She was sentenced to eight years in prison on Friday, 26 September and barred from working with children.

Detective Inspector Sian Hutchings added:

“I want to commend the strength of the parents throughout this investigation. I can’t imagine how horrendous it’s been to sit in court and listen to the abuse that Lecka inflicted on their children.

“Despite this, they have acted with grace and dignity and even took the time to record a thank you video directly from the children to DC Geoff Boye and DC Eloise Hand and other partners who supported. In this video, they thanked officers for giving their children a voice when they didn’t have one.

“These parents put their trust in Lecka to care for their children as well as the other staff at the nursery did. Lecka abused this trust and today’s sentence hold her accountable for this.

“I know that our officers have found this a challenging and disturbing case to investigate, and I would like to comment Detective Constable Eloise Hand and Detective Sergeant Geoff Boye for their dedication, compassion and attention to detail which has put this dangerous woman behind bars and protected vulnerable children.”