Meghan Markle’s estranged father arrested and charged with possessing child sexual abuse materials

TAMPA, FL (AP) — The 82-year-old estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested Friday morning in Florida on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material in storage units in California, authorities said.

Thomas Markle Sr. was arrested outside Tampa, according to people who were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

Federal agents searched two storage units in the Los Angeles area and “seized approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books” that contained suspected child sexual abuse images, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said.

The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, first reported Markle’s arrest.

Markle, who has rented the units since 2008, is charged with possessing images of child sexual abuse, Essayli said. His arrest follows reports by The Sun, another British tabloid, that Meghan’s half brother found a collection of such images while clearing out their father’s home in the Philippines.

That overseas discovery led to information about the U.S. storage units. Some images appear to depict Markle with children, according to an FBI affidavit filed in court.

Markle was expected to make his initial court appearance Friday afternoon in Tampa, Florida. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney who can respond to the allegations.

“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” Essayli said.

Meghan, an American citizen who starred in the U.S. television drama “Suits,” married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018. They have two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.

She recently said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father’s former home. She also revealed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about him had been sent to London police in 2018.

“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” Meghan said of the letter. “I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children was for one reason: to protect them.”

There was no immediate comment from Meghan’s representative on Friday.

Meghan’s father, a retired television lighting and photography director, did not attend the wedding, prompting extensive coverage in the British media of Meghan’s estrangement from her father.

Thomas Markle Sr. was living in the Philippines earlier this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated. That forced him to return to the U.S.

The Sun reported that Thomas Markle Jr. recently found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father’s former home in Cebu City, in the Philippines. Markle Jr. told The Sun that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the FBI.

“I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now,” Markle Jr. said. “I won’t speak to my father ever again unless I’m called to give evidence against him.”

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Durkin Richer reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press journalist Ed White in Detroit contributed.