image copyrightGetty Images
The father of British royal Prince Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, was arrested and charged with possessing images of child sexual abuse and appeared in court in Florida on the 6th.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Central California announced on the same day that Thomas Markle, 82, of Florida, was charged with one count of possessing images of child pornography.
Prosecutors said in a statement that Markle was in possession of sexually explicit images of himself and a young girl.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) made the arrest after searching two storage units that the defendant had rented for about 20 years near Los Angeles, California. The rent for the warehouse was already paid in October of this year.
According to the FBI, agents seized approximately 78 items from the rented storage facility, including film negatives, slides and books. It is said to include material related to child sexual abuse.
Markle previously denied allegations that she was in possession of images of sexually abusing children, calling them "sick lies."
The defendant, who lives in an assisted living facility in Florida, made his first appearance in court in Tampa, Florida, in a wheelchair, according to CBS News, a BBC affiliate. There was no arraignment, and the presiding judge ordered the defendant to wear an electronic monitoring device and place him under house arrest in a nursing home. A date for his first court appearance in California will be set soon.
Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, and Duchess Meghan Markle have not commented on Markle's arrest and charges.
FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement that authorities "acted quickly" to arrest the suspect, who "is suspected of targeting innocent children and attempting to rob them of their innocence through his criminal activities."
Patel added: "The FBI will do everything in its power to protect innocent children. Predators who target children will not escape, whether they are domestic or hiding elsewhere."
Image copyrightReuters
According to court documents, multiple witnesses testified that Markle was "definitely" the adult man in the photos seized by the FBI from a rented storage facility that appeared to show him sexually abusing a child.
The man in the image "appears to be in his 30s or 40s," which, when taken together with the defendant's current age of 82, suggests that the alleged sexual abuse may date back several decades.
In October, Philippine police obtained a warrant to search for equipment allegedly taken from Markle's home in the Philippines. The documents handed over to police by Thomas Markle Jr., Meghan's half-brother, included computers, phones, hard drives and old video tapes.
Markle moved to the Philippines last year after suffering repeated strokes and lived in Cebu until May of this year. After that, one of his legs was amputated, and he was reportedly undergoing walking training at a rehabilitation center in Florida.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed in October that it had received a letter in 2019 that made "numerous allegations" about Markle.
The Metropolitan Police said it had informed the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's office of the letter about allegations against Meghan's father abroad, but did not share it with other investigating agencies.
The Metropolitan Police Department then voluntarily reported its handling of the letter to the UK government's independent office for police conduct (IOPC).
"I am deeply saddened by the news that has emerged over the past 24 hours and my thoughts are with all the children who may have been affected," Meghan said in a statement in October after the allegations against Markle emerged.
Duchess Meghan has been estranged from her father since 2018, and reportedly stopped contacting him as of last year.
(English article Meghan's father Thomas Markle appears in court over child sex abuse material)
