Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, arrested after feds find photos of him sexually abusing minors, DOJ says
By Max Foster, Holly Yan, Kathleen Magramo, CNN
(CNN) — Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested Friday by federal agents in Florida on charges related to child sexual abuse material, the Department of Justice announced Friday.
“Mr. Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls,” said First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli, who leads the Los Angeles-based US Attorney’s office.
The 82-year-old allegedly kept “sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls in two Los Angeles-area storage units he rented for nearly two decades,” the DOJ said.
Agents seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books that contained suspected child sexual abuse material, the agency said. Two images depict a man – whom a witness identified as Markle – with a nude prepubescent girl, the DOJ said. Another image depicts a nude girl in a room that appears to be part of a motel chain in the Philippines, federal investigators said.
Markle is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court Friday and has not yet entered a plea. If convicted, he would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, the DOJ said. CNN is working to determine if Markle has legal representation.
When asked for comment about the news, which was first reported by the Daily Mail, a spokesperson for Markle’s daughter Meghan told CNN they had no comment at this time.
Markle has been estranged from Meghan and did not attend her wedding to Britain’s Prince Harry in 2018.
In October, the American-born duchess said she was “deeply distressed” by a report that her father had a trove of images depicting child sex abuse.
The son of Thomas Markle told Britain’s The Sun newspaper he had uncovered a stash of indecent images of underage children in storage boxes and on computer hard drives at his father’s house in the Philippines and reported him to authorities in that country.
The Philippines Justice Department’s child abuse unit told CNN the matter was “under investigation.”
Thomas Markle Sr. vehemently denied the allegations in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper.
“I’m shocked, I’m hurt and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me,” he told the Daily Mail. The elder Markle also said the computer equipment hadn’t been in his possession since he left Mexico with his son Thomas Markle Jr. in 2025.
Markle Jr. told The Sun he also reported his discovery to US authorities. In October, the FBI told CNN it was aware of the allegations involving Markle Sr., a US citizen, and will “provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities.”
“We will also investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law,” the FBI said at the time.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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