{"id":736628,"date":"2026-06-14T19:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-06-14T19:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/736628\/"},"modified":"2026-06-14T19:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-06-14T19:59:10","slug":"mason-lee-was-punched-so-hard-his-bowel-ruptured-new-evidence-reveals-police-ignored-repeated-warnings-about-toddlers-killer-queensland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/736628\/","title":{"rendered":"Mason Lee was punched so hard his bowel ruptured. New evidence reveals police ignored repeated warnings about toddler\u2019s killer | Queensland"},"content":{"rendered":"

New evidence uncovered by Guardian Australia reveals that Queensland<\/a> police failed to act on repeated and serious warnings about a man who perpetrated one of Australia\u2019s most shocking child abuse homicides.<\/p>\n

Mason Jet Lee was 22 months old when he was punched in the stomach by his stepfather, William Andrew O\u2019Sullivan \u2013 an ice user with a history of violent and controlling behaviour \u2013 in June 2016. The toddler\u2019s small intestine was ruptured and he died a slow and painful death several days later, with no medical care.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan and the boy\u2019s mother, Anne-Maree Lee, were jailed for manslaughter and child cruelty.<\/p>\n

Mason\u2019s death has been the subject of at least seven government reviews, including an inquest. A coroner ruled that the handling of the boy\u2019s case by child safety officials was \u201ca failure in nearly every possible way\u201d<\/a> but made no adverse findings about the actions of police.<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia\u2019s Broken Trust investigation<\/a> can now reveal the coroner\u2019s court also obtained evidence of serious police failures in the lead-up to Mason\u2019s death but a coroner withheld it from the inquest.<\/p>\n

The information withheld by the coroner includes police records that show how eight months before the boy was killed, a woman contacted police alleging that O\u2019Sullivan had threatened to kill another child in his care.<\/p>\n

After the woman\u2019s call, police placed a flag on O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s file. But the flag didn\u2019t warn authorities about the dangerous man who would later kill Mason. Instead it said any further requests for welfare checks of children should be treated by officers as \u201cvexatious\u201d and referred to child safety authorities.<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s subsequent attempts to warn police about O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s alleged actions were ignored due to the flag.<\/p>\n

A lawyer who represented a child safety worker at the inquest was outraged when told of the withheld information by Guardian Australia and questioned: \u201cHow can it be that we never even knew this had happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

Killer\u2019s file flagged<\/p>\n

In the immediate aftermath of Mason\u2019s death, much of the public narrative focused on two alternate villains: the child safety department and the boy\u2019s mother, Anne-Maree Lee.<\/p>\n

Mason was admitted to hospital suffering serious injuries in the months before the fatal blow.<\/p>\n

Mason had been living in Caboolture with O\u2019Sullivan at the time he was killed, while Lee lived nearby. There was public outrage that a mother would leave her child in the care of a violent man.<\/p>\n

About four weeks later, details were leaked to the Sunday Mail<\/a> that the boy had suffered serious injuries and been hospitalised in early 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad everyone [in the child protection system] been doing their jobs this little fellow would be alive today,\u201d said the then opposition child safety spokesperson, Ros Bates.<\/p>\n

An internal investigation into child safety failures resulted in disciplinary action against several staff working in a system that was severely understaffed.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan, who delivered the fatal blow, and Lee, who was not there at the time, pleaded guilty to manslaughter and child cruelty. Both were sentenced to nine years in prison<\/a>; O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s sentence was increased to 12 years on appeal.<\/p>\n

When the inquest began in 2019, Queensland\u2019s domestic and family violence death review unit prepared a report for the coroner that detailed O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s significant history of domestic violence and coercive control. It is understood the report challenged the public narrative about Lee and explained her inaction in the context of that violence and control.<\/p>\n

The report also found evidence of serious policing failures, specifically that police had placed a flag on their system and ruled concerns about O\u2019Sullivan \u201cvexatious\u201d.<\/p>\n

The coroner\u2019s court refused to release the report to Guardian Australia.<\/p>\n

But summaries of the report\u2019s conclusions have been obtained by reviewing anonymised case studies published by the DFV death review board. The summaries \u2013 which Guardian Australia has verified relate to Mason\u2019s death \u2013 confirm the existence of the police flag.<\/p>\n

Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email<\/a><\/p>\n

They detail that a woman called police for help after O\u2019Sullivan allegedly \u201ckidnapped her child and threatened to kill himself and the child\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe investigating officer flagged [O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s] file to reflect, without any clear rationale or explanation, that any further requests for welfare checks of children were vexatious and should be referred to Child Safety Services,\u201d the summaries say.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were indications that subsequent police responses to concerns of child abuse and domestic and family violence were influenced by this point-in-time assessment of the victim\u2019s motivation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn this case, an interstate police service advised Queensland civilian communications officers that the perpetrator had threatened to kill [a] child and himself if the child\u2019s mother did not return to Queensland \u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cDue to the presence of the flag, civilian communications officers finalised this report with no further action to be taken.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe board were of the view that, in this case, the woman\u2019s own criminal history and harmful substance use likely contributed to a deeply problematic perception that she was wasting police time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Plans to \u2018skin\u2019 woman<\/p>\n

O\u2019Sullivan had a 20-year criminal history, the inquest was told, which included drug offences and probation breaches. It was also told he had a history of perpetrating violence against Lee and previous partners.<\/p>\n

An unpublished submission to the inquest, seen by Guardian Australia, says that in April 2015 he presented to hospital with suicidal and homicidal thoughts, including threats to kill children and to \u201cskin\u201d a woman. This was the same woman whose warnings were \u2013 about five months later \u2013 dismissed by police as vexatious.<\/p>\n

The submission reveals that O\u2019Sullivan had been taken to hospital on that occasion \u201cin the company of police\u201d but this fact was omitted from the inquest finding.<\/p>\n

It is unclear whether the police who escorted him to the hospital made any records. But significant information about O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s history would have been available to the officer who ultimately dismissed the allegations about him as vexatious. To date, the decision to put a flag on his file has never been investigated.<\/p>\n

In a statement to Guardian Australia, the Queensland police service did not address specific questions about the decision but said the force had conducted \u201ca full and thorough investigation\u201d into Mason\u2019s death that resulted in the manslaughter and child cruelty convictions.<\/p>\n

double quotation markIt is agonising to know that had police not labelled [the woman]\u2019s repeated notifications \u2018vexatious\u2019 that Baby Mason may be alive todaySusan Moriarty, lawyer<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the conclusion of these investigations, the matter was referred to the coroner,\u201d a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe QPS is committed to continually reviewing its processes and working with partner agencies to better protect and support community members impacted by domestic and family violence.<\/p>\n

\u201cEach life lost at the hands of DFV is a tragedy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Did the coroner ignore police inaction?\u2019<\/p>\n

In other cases \u2013 such as the inquest into the murders of Hannah Clarke and her three children<\/a> \u2013 the pre-inquest review by the death review unit has been critical. In that case the coroner, Jane Bentley, embedded the entire review in her findings.<\/p>\n

The unit\u2019s reviews routinely highlight systemic issues, particularly with the policing response, that were overlooked or omitted from the police investigation.<\/p>\n

But at the Mason Lee inquest, the unit\u2019s report was received but not included as evidence by the former deputy state coroner John Lock.<\/p>\n

People holding pictures of Mason rally outside Caboolture magistrates court. Photograph: AAP<\/p>\n

Guardian Australia has seen an email from Lock\u2019s counsel assisting to lawyers involved in the inquest, confirming that the coroner\u2019s court held information obtained by the death review unit but that it would not be distributed or included in evidence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Coroner\u2019s Court of Queensland is in possession of other material gathered during the course of the coronial investigation, including \u2026 materials gathered by staff of the DFV death review unit,\u201d it says.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coroner does not intend to rely on any of those materials that have not been included in the coronial brief of evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

No explanation was provided in the email as to why this decision had been made, and the coroner\u2019s court did not address questions seeking an explanation.<\/p>\n

Susan Moriarty, a lawyer who represented a child safety worker at the inquest, said she was never told about the \u201cvexatious\u201d flag and only learned about it when contacted by Guardian Australia.<\/p>\n

The state government had \u201chunted down the hapless, overworked, under-resourced and inexperienced social workers involved in this case\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

But Moriarty asked why evidence of police failures had not received the same scrutiny.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t mean to be disrespectful but did the coroner ignore police inaction to go after the low-hanging fruit, the social workers?\u201d Moriarty said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is agonising to know that had police not labelled [the woman]\u2019s repeated notifications \u2018vexatious\u2019 that Baby Mason may be alive today.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can it be that the police knew [of allegations] that O\u2019Sullivan had threatened to kill [a woman] and children and did nothing?<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can it be that we never even knew this had happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018Worried about Mason getting hit really hard\u2019<\/p>\n

Lock, who made the decision not to rely on the DFV death review unit\u2019s report, resigned unexpectedly for unrelated reasons after the inquest began.<\/p>\n

Bentley then took over. The inquest heard no evidence about the flag on O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s file.<\/p>\n

\u201cI make no adverse findings in relation to the involvement of any member of the Queensland Police Service involved in this matter,\u201d she ultimately found.<\/p>\n

But her conclusion overlooked other apparent police failures detailed within the body of the findings.<\/p>\n

The findings state that on 24 March \u2013 about two months before Mason died \u2013 a police officer and child safety officer interviewed another of Lee\u2019s children.<\/p>\n

The child disclosed that O\u2019Sullivan was violent to her mother and that she was \u201cworried about Mason getting hit or punched by a bad guy and he might die\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another sibling was \u201cworried about Mason getting hit really hard if he cried so she tried to look after him\u201d, the child said.<\/p>\n

The child safety officer and the police officers \u201cchose to simply ignore what she had said and move on to their next question\u201d, the inquest findings noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey made no independent investigations or queried the other children they interviewed that day.\u201d<\/p>\n

When contacted by Guardian Australia, the coroner\u2019s court said it did not provide media comments related to cases before it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is because coroners speak publicly through their findings and rulings which form part of the coronial investigation (including inquests), in relation to which appeals may be conducted,\u201d a statement said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is inappropriate for coroners to add to or detract from what they have said other than as part of their findings.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Australia, domestic and family violence counselling is available from Full Stop Australia on 1800 385 578. Other international helplines may be found via www.befrienders.org.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"New evidence uncovered by Guardian Australia reveals that Queensland police failed to act on repeated and serious warnings…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":736629,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-736628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=736628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/736628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/736629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=736628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=736628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=736628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}