Child Safety ‘failed Mason Jet Lee in nearly all possible ways’

Queensland coroner hands down findings over 2016 death of Mason Jett Lee at hands of his stepfather.

Mason Lee, who died at just 22 months of age after suffering months of abuse.

Queensland toddler Mason Jet Lee, whose death from horrific abuse shocked the nation, was failed in “nearly every possible way” by the state’s Department of Child Safety and its officers who did not follow strict obligations to look after his welfare, a scathing coronial report has found.

Deputy state coroner Jane Bentley found that child safety officers had just one encounter with 22-month-old Mason in the months leading up to his death in 2016 despite rules that required them to ensure face-to-face meetings with the abused boy 12 times over that period.

In a report which Child Safety Minister Di Farmer said would make anyone “sick to the stomach” over how the system had failed Mason, Ms Bentley detailed numerous examples of officers failing in their obligations to care for the boy, who died in June 2016 after suffering days of agony from dozens of wounds inflicted by his stepfather.

The multitude of lesions, ulcers, fractures, internal haemorrhages and 46 bruises told a story of a child who had been “severely mistreated for some time before his death”.

“The report that the deputy coroner handed down today contained graphic details about those circumstances,” Ms Farmer said.

“They do so in a way that is gruelling reading and will make anyone who reads it sick to the stomach that these were the circumstances of this little boy’s life, that the people on whom he was totally reliant for his life failed him so dramatically.”

The Minister revealed that since Mason died, nine Child Safety officers involved with his case have been reprimanded and three “left of their own accord”.

In all, 21 department employees involved in Mason’s case were found by an ethical standards unit to have acted unsatisfactorily.

Ms Bentley’s report detailed the months of neglect and abuse Mason suffered at the hands of his mother, Anne-Maree Lee, and her violent boyfriend, William O’Sullivan, who have since both been jailed for manslaughter.

The toddler from Caboolture, north of Brisbane, was well known to Child Safety, but several inquiries after his death have all established that little was done to ensure his safety.

Ms Bentley found the department failed to follow basic policies and procedures when several concerned friends and neighbours reported Mason’s neglect.

The inquiry heard that, just days before he died, Child Safety officers ticked off on Mason’s safety without even seeing him, despite tip-offs that he was being severely neglected.

“Had anyone from the department seen Mason in the weeks before his death they could have saved his life,” the coroner said.

The Liberal National Party Opposition Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk must take responsibility for the department’s failures.

Ms Farmer, who has fronted the media in the past fortnight after horrific new cases of child suffering were revealed, said Mason’s death had prompted an overhaul of Child Safety, including new staff and training.

Ms Farmer said the government had already adopted 16 recommendations from three independent reviews into the circumstances of Mason’s death.

She said further recommendations put forward by the coroner were “on the table”.

The Minister said it was the duty of all Queenslanders to report children “at risk of harm” to the department.

In the case of Mason, Child Safety was notified on numerous occasions, including the day he died, but they deemed he was not in need of protection.

The coroner found that case officers “completely disregarded the known serious risk of harm” to the boy.

Mason, who had been staying at O’Sullivan’s house without his mother, was declared deceased by paramedics about 1am on June 11, 2016.

A post-mortem revealed the extent of his injuries and toxicology tests showed there was methylamphetamine and amphetamine in Mason’s system.

He had significant internal ruptures which were severely infected and led to his death.

The coroner ruled the injuries were caused by blunt force traumas perpetrated by O’Sullivan.

“From the time he received the abdominal injuries until he died Mason was in severe pain, feeling extremely unwell, vomiting and febrile and experiencing altered levels of consciousness,” the coroner said.

The coroner said the “graphic and disturbing” details of Mason’s horrific treatment and neglect served as a warning of how the system can fail a child.

“I conclude that the department failed in its duty to protect Mason from the risk of serious harm that he faced in the months prior to his death,” she said.

“Indeed, it is difficult to find any step taken in this case that was carried out in accordance with policies and procedures and correctly documented.”

Lee, 30, was sentenced to nine year in prison after she pleaded guilty to manslaughter and child cruelty for failing to care for her son.

O’Sullivan, who blamed his crimes on drug use, had his original nine-year sentence increased to 12 years after an appeal by the Attorney-General.