London families are breathing easier after a young woman was convicted of child abuse. Roksana Lecka was a child care worker at two West London nurseries. After parents questioned why their children came home with mysterious bruises, an investigation against Lecka began. What was discovered on the video footage is disturbing. The woman was physically abusing dozens of children over a span of nearly six months. Now, she faces time in prison for her crimes against the helpless children.
Roksana Lecka, 22, worked at Riverside Nursery in Twickenham from January 2024 to June 2024, the BBC reported. Parents began noticing unusual injuries and bruising on their children between March and May of 2024. In June, Lecka was sent home from work for pinching multiple children. She allegedly appeared to be “flustered” as well.
Her behavior prompted an investigation. Detectives from Metropolitan Police went through CCTV footage from the nursery, and it turned out that she was pinching and scratching kids underneath their clothing. The footage showed her pinching some children more than a dozen times in a day, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.
“Footage showed Lecka carrying out multiple assaults on the children in her care which included repeatedly pinching and grabbing children, dropping babies into their [cribs] and on one occasion, she delivered several kicks to a young boy to the face and stepped on his shoulder,” Detective Sergeant Geoff Boye said.
Additionally, Lecka also abused children at Little Munchkins in Hounslow in late 2023, according to Metropolitan Police. She admitted to police that she would sometimes smoke cannabis before her shifts. At one point, she was vaping feet away from a baby.
“These families left their children in Lecka’s care, trusting her to protect their children as well as the other staff at the nurseries clearly did,” Deputy Inspector Sian Hutchings said. “The footage of her offences against defenceless children was disturbing.”
Senior crown prosecutor Gemma Burns also spoke about the case, The Guardian reported. “I would like to praise the strength of the victims’ families who have had to sit in court and watch footage of the abuse which Lecka inflicted on their children,” she said.
After Lecka’s abuse was uncovered, many parents reached out to lawyers. “The families we represent are not only deeply shocked but also traumatized by what their children have endured,” Jemma Till, a civil lawyer for the firm Irwin Mitchell said.
“Whilst Lecka’s actions have been stopped, the consequences of those actions are likely to affect families for many years. In the meantime, we’re focused on supporting the families and helping them come to terms with Lecka’s dreadful actions.”
Roksana Lecka has now been convicted of abusing 21 babies. She admitted guilt to seven counts of child cruelty, and was convicted of another 14 counts by a jury at Kingston Crown Court. One of the counts is related to her time at Little Munchkins. She will be sentenced on September 26, 2025.
