Father pleads guilty to Kyhesha-Lee Joughin's manslaughter

The father of three-year-old Kyhesha-Lee Joughin, who died from internal injuries in March 2013, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter over her death.

The girl was found dead at their Petrie unit, north of Brisbane.

She had sustained internal injuries that became infected over a period of days.

Her father Matthew Lee Williamson, 31, and flatmate Christopher Arthur Neville Kent, have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Both deny causing the injuries and the court has not been able to determine how she came to sustain them.

Williamson’s lawyer Peter Shields said outside court that his client’s guilty plea was not an acknowledgment that he caused the injuries.

“That’s actually in dispute,” he said.

“It’s a matter for Her Honour to determine at a contested sentence — whether it’s on the basis that he failed to provide the necessities of life in obtaining medical treatment, or whether he caused the injuries.

“At this stage, it’s just a plea of guilty to the offence of manslaughter.”

Kent was convicted of manslaughter and handed a two-year suspended sentence.

At the time the court heard Kent was not responsible for the girl’s injuries but had not acted to save her life.

Williamson will be sentenced in February next year.

This post originally appeared on ABC News.