Mason Lee's stepfather to be sentenced

The stepfather of slain Queensland toddler Mason Lee will be sentenced in August, where he's expected to plead guilty to manslaughter over the boy's death.

File image obtained July 4, 2016 of Queensland toddler Mason Lee

Queensland toddler Mason Lee's stepfather will be sentenced in August over his death. (AAP)

The stepfather of Queensland toddler Mason Lee is expected to plead guilty to manslaughter over his death.

William Andrew O'Sullivan is also due to plead guilty to cruelty to a child under 16 years old at a sentence hearing listed in August at Brisbane Supreme Court.

Mason died in June 2016 in his Caboolture home from a rupture to his small intestine believed to have been caused by blunt force trauma.

O'Sullivan, Mason's mother Anne Maree Lee and their housemate Ryan Robert Barry Hodson were all charged with manslaughter.

In the months before his death, Mason was treated for multiple injuries and was admitted to Lady Cilento Children's Hospital for three weeks in February 2016.

That was for treatment of an abscess on Mason's right leg but doctors soon discovered he had a "chronic" and "extensive" rash around his genitals, including deep abscesses.

At a committal hearing in November, pediatric surgeon Professor Roy Kimble testified the fatal wound to Mason's abdomen could have been sustained up to five days before his death.

Mason would have been unable to eat or drink without vomiting in his final hours and when paramedics attended to him, at least half an hour after death, he was covered in bruises and vomit.

During a review of his matter at Brisbane Supreme Court on Wednesday, O'Sullivan didn't appear and no plea was entered, but his sentencing was listed for August 28.

Lee is currently awaiting a trial.

While Hodson was accused of Mason's manslaughter, the teenager later indicated he would plead guilty to the downgraded offence of child cruelty.

However, Justice David Jackson questioned the legality of the charge and Hodson was discharged after the prosecution conceded they couldn't make out the elements of the offence.

For Hodson to be convicted of child cruelty it needed to be shown Mason was in his "lawful care or charge".


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Source: AAP



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