Seventeen Years For Drama Teacher Who Sexually Abused Pupil

A “respected and very popular” dedicated drama teacher has been sentenced to seventeen years imprisonment for grooming and molesting a young pupil.

Shaun Baker, 50, Head of Drama at Bromley’s Ravens Wood School repeatedly abused the boy when he was aged twelve to fifteen years-old over a decade ago.

Remarkably, he asked the sentencing judge to give him credit for establishing an after-school club, which provided him further opportunities to groom the youngster.

Baker, of Ridgeway, Pembury, Tunbridge Wells fought the charges for nearly four years, but was convicted by a Croydon Crown Court jury of three counts of rape.

He was also convicted of seven counts of sexual activity with a child while in a position of trust; a further count of sexual activity with a child when he was no longer his schoolteacher; two counts of causing a child to watch sexual activity, plus a count of sending images of sexual activity.

The offences occurred between September, 2009 and January, 2013 in Baker’s home, garage and car, with the schoolteacher ordering the boy to duck down in his vehicle so his professional colleagues would not see him.

Some of the abuse also occurred at Baker’s former addresses in West Peckham, Kent and Charterhouse Road, Orpington.

The trial heard Baker’s grooming continued at his after-school ’Tech Club’ which taught youngsters the skills of lighting, sound and special effects in live performances.

The victim was also encouraged to play ‘truth or dare’ games in Baker’s garage, where his technical equipment was stored, involving mutual exposure and escalating the grooming.

Baker touched the boy intimately and forced to youngster to touch him; showed him gay porn DVD’s, escalating to the most serious offences of oral rape.

He was arrested in October, 2021 when the victim eventually came forward - resulting in suspension from teaching - and was charged nearly two years later.

“During his evidence the victim described him as a respected and very popular teacher amongst the pupils and other teachers,” said Sadaf Etemadi, defending.

“He went above and beyond the regular teaching hours and set-up an after-school club and the complainant says there were positive aspects with Mr Baker being his only support network.”

The court heard Baker enjoys the continued support of his family and his partner, who he only met one month before his arrest and accompanied him throughout the trial.

“He was an exemplary teacher with an enviable record and has dedicated his life to the profession. During his evidence he outlined his career and background and what came through was his passion for teaching,” added Ms Etemadi.

“It is anticipated he will be banned from teaching and to Mr Baker that is the greatest punishment. He knows he can never go back to teaching.”

The victim did not attend the hearing, but in a statement said: “I had been a child manipulated by an adult and now finally my voice that was not heard as a child has been heard.

“He abused his position of trust as a teacher and the abuse took place systematically. I have re-lived the feelings of helplessness and have woken up terrified.”

Judge Peter Gower KC told Baker he must serve two-thirds of the sentence before parole can be considered and must sign the sex offenders register for life.

“You sometimes collected him after school and told him to duck down in your car so the other teachers would not see both of you,” Judge Gower told suited Baker, who showed no emotion.

“You began to abuse him on a regular basis in both your home and in the privacy of your garage, where you knew you would not be disturbed by your then partner.

“He submitted because he felt he had no choice and thought of himself as your trusted sidekick and you exploited him.

“You told him it was ‘your secret’ and not to tell anybody and when the complainants mother became suspicious he denied anything was happening.”

Montessori Nursery Worker Repeatedly Kicked Toddler In Face

Kicks: Roksana Lecka

The trial of a Montessori nursery worker watched shocking CCTV footage of her flicking her foot into the face of the boy she was caring for.

Roksana Łęcka, 22, was employed at the Riverside Nursery, Twickenham Green, where she is accused of repeatedly pinching, punching and grabbing the youngsters.

While lying on a mattress in the Sleep Room the little boy is at the feet of Lecka, who is standing over him, wearing a pair of sneakers later seized by police.

“She kicks him four times to the face and then steps on his shoulder, causing him to cry and then kicks him in the face agin,” explained prosecutor Tracy Ayling.

As the footage was played gasps and sobs could be heard from the packed public gallery.

CCTV footage of another incident with the same boy was played as the prosecutor outlined: “She approaches him and he backs away and as this defendant grabs his hand he drops to the floor crying.

“She pinches him to the mouth and nose and right arm and touches him to the face, causing him to cry. She pinches the right side of his torso and his right arm, nose and stomach and then gets up and leaves.”

The jury were played further footage of Lecka carrying a girl and then a boy in and out of the Sleep Room.

“The point is to show you the surreptitious nature of what was going on. She will hit the children in the doorway to the Sleep Room.”

The footage shows Lecka out of sight of her colleagues and the little girl’s head rock back twice as the defendant apparently strikes her.

There is a similar incident with the boy toddler as Lecka removes him from a cot and exits the Sleep Room.

The jury spent a great deal of time observing the CCTV footage, which captured another incident in the Sleep Room of Lecka engaged with a little boy.

“She kicks the mattress towards him and he falls over,” explained Ms Ayling. “She then pulls him onto the mattress face first.

“The defendant pinches him to the arm and he begins to cry and she pinches him to the chest and then again to the chest and again.”

The CCTV shows Lecka then exhaling her vape in the boy’s direction.

Extensive footage was played of Lecka sitting next to a little boy at a table with other children, with the prosecution saying she is constantly pinching him all over his body, making him cry.

“She pinches his right arm, then under his elbow then to his left side. She pinches his stomach and he bursts into tears and then she looks around and pinches him twice in the back.

“She appears to kiss him and pinch his cheek, causing him to flinch and pinches his left leg twice.”

Lecka has pleaded not guilty at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court to twenty-two counts of child cruelty, but has admitted two identical charges, relating to a boy and a girl.

Lecka, of Avro Place, Hounslow was eventually sent home on June 28, last year after fellow-staff became alarmed by her behaviour and police charged her after analysing months of internal CCTV.

The trial continues.....

Montessori Nursery Parents Saw Injuries On Children

On Trial: Roksana Lecka

A jury trying a nursery worker for physically abusing toddlers at a £1900-a-month Montessori were told suspicious parents were already taking bath-time snaps of their injured children before the alarm was raised.

Roksana Lecka, 22, was employed at the Riverside Nursery, Twickenham Green, where she is accused of repeatedly pinching, punching and grabbing the youngsters.

She has pleaded not guilty at Kingston-upon-Thames Crown Court to twenty-two counts of child cruelty, but has admitted two identical charges, relating to a boy and a girl.

Lecka, of Avro Place, Hounslow was eventually sent home on June 28, last year after fellow-staff became alarmed by her behaviour and police charged her after analysing months of internal CCTV.

However, concerned parents were already collecting evidence of her abuse, prosecutor Tracy Ayling KC told the jury yesterday.

“Parents had their worries and took photos on other occasions and consultant paediatrician Dr. Stephen Rose has looked at those photos and all of the CCTV.”

The parents of one little girl took photos of her injuries on March 13 and April 22, last year.

“Dr Rose says the pictures of her left side, three pink marks are pressure marks and that accidental bruising to the side of the torso is unusual.”

The parents also took an image of redness behind their daughter’s right ear. “Dr Rose says the discolouration is consistent with bruising and the ear is rarely accidentally bruised and was likely to be a non-accidental injury.

“The Crown says all of these injuries are non-accidental. We suggest that what you see on the CCTV, coupled with the photos means she was abused on earlier occasions and not just what you can see on the CCTV.”

The mother of a young boy to a photo of reddening to the back of his right ear on May 18, said the prosecutor. “Dr Rose says it is consistent with pinching.

“He says the cause of this was non-accidental and the Crown say this is further evidence of the defendant mistreating him longer than what we see on the CCTV.

“There are these earlier injury photos as well.”

The parents of the girl Lecka has admitted inflicting cruelty to were alarmed on both March 6 and May 14 after their daughter returned from the nursery.  

“When giving her a bath in March the parents noticed marks to her hips and left forearm and were told by the nursery there were no concerns and no reported falls noted.

“The parents took photos again on May 14 after seeing marks in the left side of the girl’s body and to her right hip.

“Dr Rose says these are non-accidental injuries, consistent with thumb or fingernail injuries. These bruises are in the opinion of the consultant the result of inflicted injury.

“The marks provide further support that this defendant abused this girl in a wider timeframe than that seen on the CCTV,” Ms Ayling told the jury.

“It shows you what the defendant is capable of and she accepts she is capable of.”

For the first time the jurors were given added details of the one count regarding Lecka’s previous place of employment at another Montessori in nearly Hounslow, Little Munchkins. 

There, on October 19, 2023 a co-worker, Chamilla Seneviratne, was changing a child’s nappy in a side room, when she heard Lecka shout at a little girl: “You are so annoying.”

“She heard the girl screaming and crying,” explained the KC. “She saw a red bump on the girl’s upper thigh, as if she had been pinched and took a photo of what she saw.”

Ms Chamilla Seneviratne said in her statement: “She was running towards me and crying so badly. I saw this big, bumpy red patch on her skin.”

Lecka overheard staff discussing checking the room’s CCTV. “She started panicking and said she was feeling hot and when she heard about the camera she was panicking even more,” said the witness.

Unfortunately a blind spot meant the camera did not capture the incident, but Ms Seneviratne came forward after hearing publicity about the case.

Little Munchkins management were not happy with the witness’s assessment of the incident.

“She was sent for re-training because the management felt her use of the word ‘pinching’ was inappropriate,” explained Ms Ayling.

“The defendant behaviour here is so similar to what happened at Riverside.”

Dressed in a smart black jacket and black shirt Lecka, of Avro Place, Hounslow stared intently at the CCTV footage as the evidence was outlined, without showing any emotion.

Kensington Palace Pest Guilty Of Harassing Royal Household

Pest: Jack Oliver Lyons

The granddaughter of Princess Alexandria and Royal Household staff at Kensington Palace were harassed on their personal social media by a pest, obsessed with contacting the Duke of Gloucester, a court heard.

Zenouska Mowatt, 34, the childhood friend of Princess Eugenie, who is 59th in line to the throne, gave evidence at City of London Magistrates’ Court, along with the other victims.

Jobless Jack Oliver Lyons, 31, was convicted of harassing her and former Army officer Alastair Todd, Chief of Staff and principal advisor to the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

He was also convicted of harassing Mr Todd’s PA Chelsea Pearce and Royal Household programme co-ordinator Jemima Hobbs.

District Judge Michael Snow found Lyons guilty of harassing Ms Mowatt - the great-great-granddaughter of King George V - between January 28, 2023 and May 9, last year.

She received three Instagram messages from Lyons in 2023. “She described that they unnerved her and she found them unsettling,” announced the judge.

“After unblocking him he was again following her within a day and she found that particularly unsettling.”

There was further Instagram contact on November 19, 2023 and earlier LinkedIn contact in March and April that same year.

Ms Mowatt told the trial: “I was unnerved and upset.”

“She was closely followed online by him and not surprisingly she was unnerved and upset,” added Judge Snow. “The conduct was calculated to achieve that end.”

Ms Mowatt was also contacted on her work email in September, 2023 and again on LinkedIn in May, last year.

Lyons was always polite, but persistent in trying to communicate with the Duke of Gloucester, who he was convinced could assist him with a legal music copyright issue.

The Duke’s private secretary Mr Todd told the court the constant phone calls from Lyons were “very annoying in a busy office” and he was concerned about the effect it was having on his young staff.

L to R: Jemima Hobbs; Alastair Todd; Zenouska Mowatt & Chelsea Pearce

Judge Snow convicted Lyons of harassing Mr Todd between February 13, 2023 and August 28, last year. “I am quite satisfied Mr Todd was alarmed and distressed by the continual contact.”

The first phone call was in January, 2023 and was followed-up by emails and contact via LinkedIn. 

Lyons even personally attended Kensington Palace, claiming he had an appointment with the Duke of Gloucester, HRH Prince Richard.

A total of eleven emails were sent from Lyons’ home and were blocked, resulting in the defendant using a new email address to continue contact.

Eventually an exasperated Mr Todd agreed to personally take a phone call from Lyons. “He told Lyons in no uncertain terms to stop the calls.

“The fact that there was no contact by Lyons after being told to stop is evidence that he was not delusional,” said Judge Snow.

“In fairness Mr Todd did not say he was caused alarm or distress, but found it very annoying. The conduct amounted to criminal conduct and contact continued in breach of his bail conditions.”

Ms Pearce, who attended Wiltshire’s private Stonar School, which has annual boarding fees up to £50,000, told the one-day trial she received two telephone calls from Lyons on April 2, last year, asking to speak to the Duke of Gloucester.

She received calls from two different phone numbers two days later. “The second call was slightly more forceful and aggressive,” she told the trial.

“He made contact via my LinkedIn, Instagram and twitter and also asked the office to be able to speak to Prince and Princess Michael of Kent.

“I was quite alarmed as it is rare someone would call three times in quick succession. It is quite alarming,” added Ms Pearce.

She did not reply to any of Lyons’ messages to her personal social media and dismissed his claim he met her in a Peterborough pub ten years ago, when she was underage anyway.

“I did feel it was an invasion into my personal life. I don’t live behind police-manned gates and I commute into work everyday.

“It is, in my eyes, harassment and very unsettling and I believe it could be potentially threatening with the amount of contact. I am a young woman and this is an older male.”

Ms Hobbs, who attended £57,000 a year private girls’ boarding school Benenden in Kent told the court she received four telephone calls from Lyons, using three different mobile numbers.

“It was quite unsettling because they were different phone numbers and it makes you feel quite uncomfortable.

“I had no idea who this person was and no idea of what he was talking about.”

After the calls to the office in April and May, last year Ms Hobbs was contacted by Lyons via LinkedIn on May 9, claiming he had a “legal emergency” and needed to speak to the Duke of Gloucester ASAP.

“It is very distressing and quite concerning that he has stalked me online, found my surname and gone to the effort to message me.

“It is horrible and not very nice, especially as a young female and not knowing who this person is.”

Lyons has never denied he was the person making contact and was arrested by officers from the Metropolitan Police’s Royalty and Specialist Protection.

Lyons’ lawyer James Martin submitted the charges should be dismissed. “They are all public-facing media accounts and the whole point of them is to allow people to contact you.

“They are designed to make it easy to contact you.”

The trial heard medical evidence which described Lyons as “educated and intelligent” but unable to properly understand his contact was “legally or morally wrong.”

However, prosecutor Mr Jonathan Bryan said: “He was pushing the boundaries and seeing what he could get away with.

“Mr Todd may have struck you as a stiff upper lip person who would not exaggerate the situation,” the prosecutor told Judge Snow. “He made efforts to block Lyons’ phone.

“Lyons attempted to visit the Duke of Gloucester and all of the other three complainants give evidence that he sought out their social media and tried to contact them.

“The fact that a stranger can contact them is not an invitation to do so and all four witnesses have given evidence of the effect it has had on them, the effect the harassment has had on them.

“They found the calls to the office unsettling and Lyons was someone known in the office as constantly calling beyond annoyance and irritation.

“He knew what he was doing was wrong and used different numbers to call because he knew he should not have been calling in the first place,” added Mr Bryan.”

Mr Martin said there was a less sinister reason his client was utilising different phone numbers. “He is trying to make contact and his number is blocked.

“He is just trying to get around a practical impediment and his behaviour was always polite, but persistent.”

Judge Snow found Lyons harassed Ms Pearce between April 2 and May 9, last year. “These are her personal accounts and it is easy to see why she found this disturbing and alarming.”

The Judge also convicted his of harassing Ms Hobbs between April 15 and May 9, last year. “This is a man who was seeking out individual victims.

“Ms Hobbs said she was concerned she was being stalked. She found that quite horrible and upsetting and I am satisfied she found that alarming and distressing.”

Lyons, who has never worked and relies on family financial support was conditionally discharged for two years and ordered to pay a £26 victim surcharge.

“I have taken an exceptional course,”Judge Snow told Lyons, who did not give evidence in the trial.

He also made him subject to a five-year restraining order, prohibiting contact with the four victims; the office of the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester; the Royal Household switchboard and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester.

“If you do contact the victims you will be in serious trouble,” Judge Snow told the first-time offender.