Mother accused of witchcraft to be charged with murder of Hunter Valley toddler.

By Police Reporter Jessica Kidd and staff. 

A mother who was accused of being involved in witchcraft is expected to be charged with the murder of her toddler who went missing from the NSW Hunter Valley 15 years ago.

Leonie Astra Hutchinson was 16 months old when she disappeared from her home in Scone in 2001.

But police did not know she was missing until January 2004 when it was reported.

Detectives arrested the toddler’s mother, Kate Hutchinson, at her home in Evans Head on the state’s far north coast this morning.

The 43-year-old is currently being questioned at Lismore Police Station and is expected to be charged with the child’s murder.

An inquest in 2013 heard Hutchinson was involved in witchcraft and told people her daughter was staying with friends.

The inquest also heard allegations Hutchinson told a colleague that she killed her daughter and that her body may have been dumped in a well.

A lead detective on the case told the hearing the property Hutchinson once lived on had a deep well on its grounds, and the child may have been “secreted” there if she was dead.

The case has been the focus of three coronial inquests, the last of which in 2013 lead police to search a property in Scone.

An inquest in 2011 heard from two friends of Hutchinson who said the mother had a bad experience on the drug LSD and would constantly talk about being scared of a “wolf-man”.

The court heard from the friends that in the years before Leonie was born, Hutchinson had talked about having a daughter and making a sacrifice to keep the “wolf-man” away.

Police are expected to update the media on today’s arrest at 2:00pm today.