Tiahleigh Palmer - killed by her foster father

[Popchyk]

Horrible case from Australia.

12 year old girl who was sexually abused by her foster brother (18 years old at the time). Tiahleigh told her foster mother about it and was then murdered by her foster father who feared that Tiahleigh was pregnant and so the abuse would become public.

The father, mother and two sons colluded to try to cover up the abuse and murder.

BBC link

She is the victim of sexual abuse. So she has to die before anyone finds out about it. A killing to protect the "family honour". And the family colluding to cover it up.

That poor girl never had a chance, living in a house with four different people who didn't even see her as human, far less part of what they saw as their family.

Poor poor girl

Awful story. And the son who raped her is already out of prison and carrying on with his life 😐

Who in God's name made the decision to place a 12 year old female foster child in a family with teenaged sons? They rolled out the red carpet of vulnerability

Trent Thorburn got sentenced to a maximum of 4 years for incest (how is it incest when she wasn't related to him?), attempting to pervert the course of justice and perjury.

According to this report link, Trent was sentenced to "maximum four-year, minimum five-month sentence for incest and his other charges"

He actually served 16 months in total.

link

It's incest because it is legally incest in a foster family under Qld law.

The foul bastard is facing other charges as well.
www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-21/rick-thorburn-charged-with-child-rape/9572630

According to the Brisbane Times Trent Thorburn is still imprisoned.

God, she had a daycare centre? It gets worse. Supposedly Trent was released in January.

The poor girl had only been in foster care for 8 days :(

Thanks for the info, StUmbridge. Is incest seen as a lesser offence than the sexual abuse of a child outside the family in Qld? That seems hard to understand.

I think Tiahleigh lived there for 9 months, Maitland.

The Brisbane Times reporting that Trent was released in January 2018 after serving 16 months. link

Didn't realise that the father was also charged with the sexual assault of other children in the daycare that the family ran. How awful.

Paedophile father, paedophile son. Poor Tiahleigh didn't stand a chance.

It is always a misogynist femicide when women/girls are found naked or near naked. It is just that extra layer of hatred towards females (beyond killing). I recall they mainly identified Tiahleigh via the butterfly necklace she was wearing.

I am always wary of a wife's involvement (too often flimsy evidence). I gather she participated to pervert the course of justice to protect her evil son and evil husband. If this is the case, then yes she deserved jail time. But remember, she was living in a house chock full of misogynists, so maybe she was not as complicit as the press make out (they love to make women more guilty than they are).

Father and son needed to have been sentenced for a minimum of 30 years a piece. Raping a 12-yo is paedophila, the son should have gotten way more behind bars.

Poochyk you’re absolutely right, I got confused over the dates. Her mum had decided 8 days previously to let Tiahleigh permanently remain in care.

The whole situation is tragic, the poor girl was let down by so many people who were employed specifically to ensure her safety.

Can't read anymore about that poor child - she deserved better than these scumbags - honestly I wish there was still the death penalty for the father and that whoever was supposed to audit and spot check foster parents be sanctioned as well

Given the other charges against the father, it certainly seems possible that the father also abused Tiahleigh himself.

And that perhaps he killed her not to protect his son, but purely in order to prevent his own part in the abuse becoming public knowledge.

But yes, a young girl let down by the very people who were supposed to protect her.

No, incest is treated the same as sexual abuse under the law. When we were all going WTF at the incest charge because it was a foster situation, everything I read indicated the sentencing would be similar.

Horrific case. Her poor poor mother who no doubt thought she was doing the right thing to surrender her.

I don't understand Trent's sentencing and how he is out so early.

I never understood why they put little girls in homes with older boys when I was in foster care either. As an adult I realize that it was because there are so few foster families that they think the benefit outweighs the risk. It does not.

Given the other charges against the father, it certainly seems possible that the father also abused Tiahleigh himself.

I had wondered about that myself. Highly likely, given the other charges against him.

As for the mother in all this, I saw a quote from her along the lines of: "well, he has never hit me, but I know better than to stir him up", which really does indicate he was an abuser.

I would gather the mother's motivation in covering up after-the-fact was to protect her son, rather than husband. It all goes to show the damage just one or two males can do, and the number of females affected by it (Tiahleigh, her mother, her foster mother), and of course all the other girls (and their mothers) abused by these two males. Male contagion.

Sickening. My old grandad used to say don't wish bad on anyone, but in cases like these....well, let's hope karma does it job. Bastards! Scuse my french

Poor little girl. So awful.