Thomas Markle Sr. charged with possession
Federal agents seized 78 items from two Los Angeles storage units rented by the 82-year-old.
By Anthony Shevchenko ·
Thomas Markle Sr. was arrested in Lakeland, Florida, on Friday morning. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California charged the 82-year-old with one count of possession of child pornography. Federal agents seized approximately 78 items from two storage units in the Los Angeles area. Markle Sr. rented those units for nearly two decades.
The federal complaint states that the units held child sexual abuse material. This included sexually explicit photographs of Markle Sr. with prepubescent girls. Investigators said the materials consisted of slides, film negatives, and books. The affidavit describes images of Markle Sr. with children in various stages of undress. One image reportedly showed a nude prepubescent girl.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the department would prosecute Markle Sr. to the fullest extent of federal law. He called the allegations extremely serious. FBI Director Kash Patel said Markle Sr. allegedly targeted innocent children. Patel added that the agency would use every resource to protect children and that predators would have zero safe haven in the country.
This arrest follows a report from The Sun newspaper nearly two weeks ago. The tabloid said Markle Sr. was under investigation for keeping child sexual abuse videos and images at his home in the Philippines. Authorities there said they recovered thousands of photos of underage males and females. Markle Sr.'s son told police he found hundreds or thousands of such images in boxes at his father's home.
Markle Sr. denied the allegations in a statement to the Daily Mail. He called them sick lies and the worst thing anyone could accuse him of. Meghan Markle said last month that she was deeply distressed by the earlier reports. She revealed that police informed her of disturbing allegations against her father in 2018. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex said they are not commenting on the current arrest.
Thomas Markle Sr. is expected to appear in court in Tampa, Florida, on Friday. If convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
