Man convicted of incest reportedly using Tinder in Brisbane following release from prison

Tiahleigh Palmer’s foster brother — convicted of incest against the 12-year-old — is reportedly using Tinder following his release from jail.

A man convicted of committing incest against his 12-year-old foster sister has caused outrage after being found using the dating app Tinder.

Trent Thorburn, the foster brother of Tiahleigh Palmer who was released from prison in 2018 after being convicted of incest and other crimes, has now been identified online by women using the online dating platform.

Some have said they feel “sick” thinking about the man meeting up with unassuming women, who may be too young to remember his crimes.

Thorburn was sentenced to four years in prison in 2017 after he pleaded to guilty to having sexual relations with his 12-year-old foster sister Tiahleigh. He also pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury and attempting to pervert the course of justice, according to The Courier Mail.

Trent Thornburn, who was convicted of incest against his 12-year-old foster sibling Tiahleigh Palmer, has been identified using Tinder.

He was released in January after serving 16 months of his jail term, after the judge included time served in his sentencing. He spent much of his time in solitary confinement, after suffering beatings from his fellow inmates in the first few days of his incarceration.

Thorburn was 18 when he became sexually involved with his young foster sister.

Tiahleigh disappeared in October 2015 after supposedly being dropped at school by her foster father Rick. Her body was later discovered washed up on the shore of the Pimpama River, in the Gold Coast. She was 12 at the time of her death.

Thorburn, who would now be 22, Tiahleigh’s mother, Cyndi Palmer, expressed her strong concerns about the profile, calling the family “callous”.

She claimed Thorburn and other family members “danced at the funeral” in a Facebook post, and “lied and covered up” crimes committed against her young daughter.

“He showed up to dance concerts,” Ms Palmer wrote. “Like the list goes on!!!!!!

“The callous disregard (those involved) have always had for what they have done has ALWAYS been apparent and the reality of them all moving on with and living their lives as if nothing has happened has always been there!!!”

Tiahleigh Palmer’s body was found in a river bed in 2015.

The image was also shared to a Brisbane-based crime watch group on Facebook, attracting over 700 reactions and over 1000 shares.

“He came up on my Tinder today but I swiped left without my brain clicking who he was. I feel sick that girls may meet up with him,” one woman commented.

“Please share … there will be young women on tinder who won’t know his name, his family’s history, the horror they have caused for Tiahleigh and her family,” another woman warned in the comment of the post.

“Everyone needs to be aware what this … person has done,” one woman wrote.

“Something needs to be done about this grub so many young girls wouldn’t realise who he is,” another woman said.

Tinder told news.com.au they are currently investigating the reports, and would remove the profile if they could verify it belonged to Mr Thorburn.

“The safety of our users is a top priority at Tinder and our team is investigating this,” said a spokesperson from Tinder.

“If a member has been reported for committing a crime, they will be removed from our platform. We utilize a network of industry-leading automated and manual moderation and review tools, systems and processes - and spend millions of dollars annually - to prevent, monitor and remove bad actors from our app.

“These tools include, automatic scans of profiles for red-flag language and images, manual reviews of suspicious profiles, activity, and user generated reports, as well as blocking email addresses, phone numbers and other identifiers.”

During Thorburn’s case the court heard that the then 18-year-old had told his cousin he believed he’d impregnated his 12-year-old foster sister. His mother had then told this to the father, Rick, while her son Trent and his brother Josh were out.

Later that night Rick allegedly called a family meeting and told his two son’s Tiahleigh was “no longer with us”. The boys took this to mean the young girl was dead.

Rick then drove the usual route to Tiahleigh’s school without the girl on board, and reported her missing to police later in the day.

An older photo from social media shows Trent Thorburn.

Tiahleigh’s mother Cindy Palmer speaks to the media in 2017. Picture: Darren England

Trent Thorburn initially told investigators he’d seen the young girl on the morning of October 30 walking around in her pyjamas before she left for school. During his hearing, the court heard this had been a lie, according to The Courier Mail.

Listening devices installed inside the home of the Thorburn family revealed the mother, Julene, advising the family they had to “stick to the same story about her going to school the next day …”.

Thorburn’s defence barrister claimed the young man had been in fear for his life from his father and been under pressure from his parents to lie.