AKIPRESS.COM - Australian schoolgirl Tiahleigh Palmer was 12 years old when she came home from dance class and was murdered by her foster father.

Hours earlier, Rick Thorburn had learned that that his teenage son, Trent, had sexually assaulted her. They feared she might be pregnant.

So the Queensland man killed Tiahleigh and dumped her near-naked body on a river bank.

On Friday, he was sentenced to life in prison. Justice David Boddice described the murder as "cold, calculating and callous".

Thorburn's wife and two sons have already been jailed for their roles in a case which has horrified Australia.

The killing also led to a review of Queensland's foster care system, and changed police alerts about vulnerable children, BBC reported.