Over six months, 22-year-old Roksana Lecka is accused of physically mistreating children at the Riverside Nursery in Twickenham, South West London. She supposedly left squeeze marks on their inner legs and tummies and scratches on their faces and necks.
The nursery uses the Montessori teaching approach to charge up to £1,900 a month for looking after infants from 18 months to two years. Jurors in the Kingston Crown Court trial were told that a 24th count denotes an alleged offence before Lecka’s employment; 23 children were injured at the daycare.
The court heard that no issues regarding safeguarding were brought up when Lecka was employed. But last summer’s CCTV film shows Lecka pining a child, leaving red markings on their skin. She reportedly pinches a girl’s legs, back, and underarm in another tape while the child sobs.
Lecka is seen in further footage yanking a girl’s hair and pinching her side of the face. Another tape purportedly shows Lecka vaping before grabbing a baby from a cot and then pinning and pounding her side.
At the time, the accused victim was seated at a table, and Lecka is said to have repeatedly pinched her, causing the child to cry. After that, Lecka grabbed the child by the arm and twisted her hair, causing her to press her head on the table.
According to the testimony presented in court, Lecka appeared to be “looking around” at other members of the staff to determine who was “watching” when the alleged attacks took place.
The headteacher checked the CCTV tape after one colleague claimed to have seen Lecka grabbing a boy’s legs. Jurors were shown on the videotape Lecka pinching the boy’s nose, body, wrist, and lips.
As a result of the investigation, the police discovered evidence that 23 infants had been “badly treated in some way,” according to the prosecution. The investigation covered one month.
After being detained on July 5, last year, Lecka produced a prepared statement stating, “I deny hitting any children at the Riverside Nursery. That day I arrived to work and had a usual day. There were no mishaps whereby any child appeared to have injuries. We have processes for handling the youngsters, and I followed them. I have no idea how these youngsters came to have any injuries.”
Even though Lecka has admitted to two claims of child abuse, she has denied 21 further offences.
At this point, the trial is still ongoing.