Thomas Markle Sr., the father of Meghan Markle, was arrested in Florida on Friday, November 6, and charged with one count of possession of child pornography, according to CBS News and Rappler. A criminal complaint was filed on November 5 in US District Court in Los Angeles. The Thomas Markle arrest concerns material allegedly found in California storage units.
The Justice Department said Markle allegedly kept sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls in two Los Angeles-area storage units he had rented for nearly two decades, according to CBS News. Agents seized 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books with suspected child sexual abuse images.
The FBI affidavit says two images show a man a witness identified as Markle with a nude prepubescent girl, CBS News reported. A judge ordered Markle released on personal recognizance, with home detention and electronic monitoring. He is barred from travelling outside the Middle District of Florida and the Central District of California.
If convicted, Markle faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison, according to the Justice Department.
In Mexico, the Baja California State Attorney General’s Office confirmed a search on October 29 of a storage unit near Markle’s former home in Rosarito, after a 911 report. Officials found three old magazines and VHS tapes with child pornography, and the case was referred to the FGR, according to CBS News. No details on the outcome of the FGR case were provided.
The FBI began its investigation in October after a witness said they found suspected child abuse material among Markle’s possessions in the Philippines, according to Rappler. Philippine authorities began investigating last month after his son, Thomas Markle Jr., turned over his personal items to police, according to a Philippine National Police spokesperson cited by CBS News.
Markle denied the accusations when they first surfaced, calling them "sick lies" in comments to the Daily Mail, as reported by CBS News and Rappler.
The accounts differ on whether the allegations were passed to other authorities when first received. Meghan Markle said in a statement to CBS News that she had known of the allegations since 2018 and that the claims were shared with UK authorities that year. She also said she cut her father off from contact with her children to protect them. Rappler reports that British police said last month the claims had not been passed to other authorities when first received, and that they would refer them to overseas agencies.
Most details in this report come from CBS News. NBC News provided only a headline and a short excerpt, so no further detail from it is confirmed. Markle’s defence counsel has not been identified, and NBC News said it had not heard back from his attorney. It is unclear when or whether Markle will be transferred to California to face the charge. Buckingham Palace and a spokesperson for Meghan Markle did not respond to requests for comment, according to Rappler, and CBS News reported she will not comment on the arrest at this time.
An arraignment in the Central District of California has not been scheduled and is not expected for several weeks. Prosecutors have not decided whether Markle will remain in Florida or be moved to California.
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This article was written with AI assistance from the published reporting listed above. It is part of the World Brief daily news podcast.