Charges against Mason Lee accused dropped
A young man accused of cruelty towards slain Queensland toddler Mason Lee has walked free from court with the charge against him sensationally dropped.
Ryan Robert Barry Hodson was originally accused of the manslaughter of the 21-month-old alongside Mason's mother Anne Maree Lee and stepfather William Andrew O'Sullivan.
Last week it was revealed he would plead guilty to the downgraded offence of child cruelty.
But after Brisbane Supreme Court Justice David Jackson questioned the legality of the charge on Thursday, his lawyer said he had reversed his decision.
Hodson was discharged and allowed to walk from the court after Crown prosecutor Vicki Loury conceded she was unable to make out the elements of the offence.
The court heard he remains a witness in the case against Lee and O'Sullivan.
Mason died in June 2016 at O'Sullivan's home at Caboolture, north of Brisbane.
A committal hearing heard the toddler suffered a rupture to his small intestine, believed to have been caused by blunt force trauma.
The Supreme Court was told on Thursday morning that Hodson was just 17 when he moved into O'Sullivan's home a few weeks before Mason died.
Justice Jackson said according to the statement of facts, he was left alone in the house briefly with the toddler three times on the day before he died, when O'Sullivan went out.
The judge said in order for Hodson to be charged and convicted of child cruelty, it needed to be shown Mason was in his "lawful care or charge".
AAP