Meghan Markle’s Father, Thomas Markle Sr., Arrested in Florida on Federal Child Abuse Material Charge

TAMPA, Fla., Nov. 7 (TodayViralUSA) — Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has been arrested in Florida and charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse material, federal prosecutors said.

FBI agents took the 82-year-old into custody Friday morning in Lakeland, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, which brought the charge. A federal complaint alleges he kept illegal material in two Los Angeles-area storage units he had rented for nearly two decades. Investigators seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books.

Released under electronic monitoring

Markle appeared in federal court in Tampa after his arrest and was released back to a senior care facility on condition that he be electronically monitored, NBC News reported. U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsay Griffin ordered a psychiatric examination, saying he might be unable to understand the proceedings or properly assist his lawyer. The case is expected to move to California, though prosecutors said hearings there likely won’t happen for several weeks.

“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement. His court-appointed attorney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Probes abroad preceded the arrest

The arrest came nearly two weeks after British tabloid The Sun reported that Markle’s son, Thomas Markle Jr., had found what he described as a large collection of abuse images while clearing out his father’s former home in Cebu City, the Philippines, and alerted police there and the FBI. Mexican authorities also searched a storage unit tied to Markle earlier this month, according to local reports. Markle had denied the earlier allegations, calling them “sick lies” in a statement to the Daily Mail.

A spokesperson for Meghan and Prince Harry said the couple are not commenting on the arrest. Last month, Meghan said she was “deeply distressed” by the reports and that police had informed her of troubling allegations against her father in 2018. Markle, a retired television lighting director, did not attend the couple’s 2018 wedding at Windsor Castle.