Former nursery worker Roksana Lecka has been found guilty of child cruelty against children in her care.

The 22-year-old nursery worker was found guilty of 21 counts of child cruelty following a six-week-trial.

A Met Police investigation found Lecka had abused children as young as ten months at the Riverside Nursery in Twickenham Green and a nursery in Hounslow between October 2023 and June 2024.

Met officers first began investigating Lecka in June 2024, following concerns from a staff member at the nursery. Investigators reviewed CCTV footage which showed Lecka repeatedly pinching the children and roughly placing them on the floor causing the victims to be cry and appear distressed. The footage also showed Lecka vaping less than a metre from a small baby on more than one occasion.

Statements were taken from the children’s parents and multiple red marks, bruises and scratches were located on the children. The victim’s families received specialist support from officers.

Lecka was arrested at her home on 5 July on suspicion of child cruelty offences. During interview, she answered no comment to all questions and refused to acknowledge her actions when shown the CCTV footage.

Detective Sergeant Geoff Boye of Met Police’s Public Protection Command said: “As our officers continued to review over 300 hours of CCTV, it became clear that Lecka’s offending was prolific. Footage showed Lecka carrying out multiple assaults on the children in her care which included repeatedly pinching and grabbing children, dropping babies into their cots and on one occasion, she delivered several kicks to a young boy to the face and stepped on his shoulder.”

Lecka will appear at Kingston Crown Court on Friday, 26 September for sentencing. Detective Inspector Sian Hutchings of Met Police’s Public Protection Command said: “Despite being given multiple opportunities to do so, Lecka never admitted to her offences during the course of the investigation or gave any real insight into what caused her to do this. This has added more pain and confusion to the victims’ families.

“These families left their children in Lecka’s care, trusting her to take protect their children as well as the other staff at the nurseries clearly did.”

Law firm Irwin Mitchell represented a number of parents who enrolled children at the nursery. Solicitor Jemma Till said: “This is sadly yet another devastating case where children have suffered at the hands of someone in a position of trust. While Lecka’s actions have been stopped, the consequences of those actions are likely to affect families for many years. Nothing can undo what has happened but it’s now vital that lessons are learned, and where appropriate, measures introduced to prevent other children being harmed.”