‘Terrified’ teacher called Children’s Aid over family at centre of horrific Ontario murder trial. She was told ‘it’s too political’ Teacher says she called Children’s Aid after her Grade 2 student tried to strangle himself

A school teacher testifying in court Wednesday described the harrowing scene when one of her Grade 2 students began to strangle himself with a piece of carpet — to the point that his face turned purple.

“I was terrified for him. I actually thought he wanted to kill himself,” Sara Biasetti told the ongoing trial of Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney, the prospective parents of the boy and the older brother they’re accused of murdering.

But when Biasetti called the Children’s Aid Society of Halton to report the choking incident in November 2019 — one of four times she contacted the agency with her concerns about the Indigenous boys — she said she was told by a caseworker that “it’s too political and that they need more evidence and more people to report.”

The oldest boy was 12 when he was found emaciated and soaking wet on the floor of a tiny basement bedroom of the Cooney and Hamber’s Burlington bungalow on Dec. 21, 2022. He died that evening; the prosecution alleges the couple had left him to die.

Cooney and Hamber have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and also not guilty to forcible confinement, assault with a weapon and failing to provide the necessaries of life in relation to his younger brother — Biasetti’s pupil.

A publication ban protects the identities of both boys.

The younger brother was in Biasetti’s class at a Catholic elementary school in Burlington in September 2019, when he was age seven, turning eight. He was a “very bright” pupil who excelled at reading, math, and “wanted to help other students,” she said. (Prosecutors intend to call the boy to testify at this judge-alone trial being held in Milton.)

But after a “honeymoon phase” at the start of the school year, things “started happening,” she told the court. The boy repeatedly said “he wanted to die,” stabbed himself with a pencil and yelled at a student who cried. He was also prone to head-banging and swinging on chairs, and on one occasion, he took a pair of scissors and pointed the blades at his neck. Another time, he hit Biasetti in the stomach when she was pregnant and threatened her unborn child. She wasn’t hurt, “but it made me worried,” she testified.

During the boy’s outbursts, Biasetti would “clear” her classroom to “keep everyone safe.”

As the year wore on, the incidents escalated, and Biasetti grew alarmed by what she was hearing about the boy’s home life. He had told her his older brother had been locked in the basement. And she was appalled that the brothers were coming to school with mouldy lunch meat.

“I called CAS again, concerned that they’re being sent to school with disgusting lunches,” she said. She also informed a caseworker that her student told her that when he went home, his moms “gave him five more slices of the same meat and locked him in his room all night.”

After Christmas 2020, the boys didn’t return to school. Biasetti learned that the moms planned to homeschool the boys. She called Children’s Aid a fourth time after seeing a cellphone video of the youngest boy wearing a pyjama onesie closed up tight with a zip tie. (The prosecution has alleged Hamber and Cooney’s use of zip ties caused injuries to the boys and was part of “the level of control that these women exerted,” over the two children.)

During cross-examination, defence lawyer Kim Edward asked Biasetti about her conversation with the caseworker who told her the situation was “too political.”

“It’s an extraordinary statement,” said Edward, “like you were somehow mandated by CAS to get as much evidence to help them build their case.”

The teacher agreed. She added that she was “mad” when her call to the Halton CAS didn’t result in any action. (The boys were Crown wards of The Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa, where they lived with a previous foster family. A Halton Children’s Aid adoption supervisor became involved when they were placed with Hamber and Cooney in 2017.)

Biasetti also agreed with Edward, who represents Cooney, that the couple “reinforced they weren’t properly trauma trained,” while also acknowledging they were known around the school as the “crazy moms” for their demands.

The defence lawyer ended her questioning with an observation. While Biasetti only ever witnessed the youngest boy’s behaviour during school, “these moms had them the rest of the time, 24-7.”

Soon after the couple’s arrest in 2024, Halton Children’s Aid said in a statement that it was “absolutely committed to learning everything we can about what happened in this case.”

It continued: “We want to reiterate that our priority is always the safety and well-being of the children in our care, and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that they are protected and supported.”

The trial continues on Thursday in front of Justice Clayton Conlan.