Toddler Mason Jet Lee was suffering the worst skin injuries his veteran doctor had ever seen in the months before he died, a Brisbane inquest has been told.

March 16, 2020

In the months before Mason Jet Lee died, the toddler was seriously sick and suffering the worst injuries his veteran doctor had ever seen.

The pediatrician, who can’t be identified for legal reasons, says the 21-month-old had a severe skin condition, a fractured leg, an anal tear, and a bacterial infection causing his right leg to swell to twice its normal size.

“He was a very ill little boy,” the Caboolture doctor with over 40 years’ experience told the Brisbane Coroners Court on Monday.

He expressed his serious concerns about Mason’s condition to child safety officers following an appointment in February.

But Mason was allowed to go back to the home where he later died after being hit in the abdomen by his mother’s boyfriend, William O’Sullivan, in June 2016.

“He was unwell with a temperature of 39 degrees and his heart rate was 180 … which indicates the child was seriously unwell,” the doctor said referring to his notes from February 2016.

He said Mason was suffering from skin loss in multiple areas around his bottom that his mother, Anne-Maree Lee, attributed to a nappy rash.

But the doctor found this unlikely, saying the wounds were much worse than a usual skin abrasion or rash.

He said they were likely caused by poor hygiene and care, such as infrequent nappy changes.

“This was a deep loss of the whole of the skin. There were five separate areas, some of them quite big,” he said.

“I had never seen anything quite so severe,” the doctor said.

Mason was transferred to a Brisbane hospital where he spent three weeks recovering from his injuries.

The doctor also observed a tear to Mason’s anus during an appointment in April, which he suspected may have been caused by abuse.

But medical staff in Brisbane diagnosed constipation as the cause despite Mason’s mother reporting her son was moving his bowels normally.

When Mason died he had 45 bruises to his body and four anal tears.

“I have seen a lot of constipated children and never seen the severity of the fissures described in the autopsy,” the doctor said.

The doctor said such severe trauma is likely to have been caused by something large passing from the child’s anus following a bowel movement or “insertion of some object from other direction”.

Another Caboolture pediatrician, who also cannot be named, said O’Sullivan’s involvement with Mason concerned her.

“This was her youngest child and again being an experienced mother I would have expected she would have been doing the majority of the care,” she said.

The doctor said she was also worried Mason’s anal injuries may have been caused by sexual abuse.

Despite both doctors raising their concerns with child safety officers and the matter being escalated by a Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect team in March, Mason’s case wasn’t allocated to an officer before he died.

Asked about the response, the doctor said it was: “Incredibly disappointing”.

“I just feel that it’s a tragedy all around,” she said.

Lee and O’Sullivan pleaded guilty to his manslaughter, with both failing to get Mason medical help as he died.

The inquest will seek answers from child safety workers involved in the boy’s life, including how the case could have been handled differently.

The inquest continues.