Mother testifies she wanted charges laid after 15-month-old son died

London trial continues for death of toddler Nathaniel McLellan, with mother testifying about a phone call with his babysitter. CTV’s Nick Paparella reports.

On her third day on the stand, Rose-Anne Van De Wiele continued to maintain that her main focus in this manslaughter case is to find out what happened to her 15-month-old boy, Nathaniel McLellan.

The toddler died in Oct. 2015 after being picked up by his mother from the babysitter, 46-year-old Meggin Van Hoof. At the time, Van Hoof operated an unlicensed daycare in her home in Strathroy.

Under cross-examination from defence lawyer Geoff Snow, Van De Wiele said she received a call from Van Hoof who told her that the infant had fallen, couldn’t hold his head up and was falling asleep.

Asked by Snow if Van Hoof was frantic, the mother responded, “She (Van Hoof) conveyed to me that he was injured.”

She went on to say, “She (Van Hoof) was concerned. She was not in a frantic state.”

Then she was questioned about emails she sent to police two years later in 2017 asking them to charge Van Hoof, and Van De Wiele told the court, “I began to believe that she may have been responsible and if that were the case I did want charges.”

When pressed further by the defence she said, “I didn’t know what happened, I still don’t know what happened. I know that my son was in her care and I know that there was no medical like 911 call made, that’s what I had to go on.”

Nathaniel would later die as a result of a head injury. Six years later in 2021, Van Hoof would be charged with manslaughter and has plead not guilty in court.

Later in the day, Van De Wiele said after speaking with doctors about her son’s injury, “They told me likely it was an assault.”

The trial, which is now into its second week, resumes on Tuesday.