US authorities have charged Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, with possessing child sexual abuse material, alleging the 82-year-old had pictures of himself with prepubescent girls.
FBI agents swooped on the Florida aged-care home where Mr Markle lived on Friday, local time. He is expected to appear in court in Tampa later today.
The US Justice Department alleges Mr Markle kept child sexual abuse material in two storage units in the Los Angeles area for nearly two decades.
“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli in a statement.
FBI Director Kash Patel said: “The FBI and our partners have arrested Thomas Markle Sr. after an FBI investigation revealed he was in possession of Child Sexual Abuse Material.”
“Mr Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions.“
British media ran images of FBI agents arresting Mr Markle on Friday morning.
His daughter, the Duchess of Sussex, is an actor and entrepreneur and among the world’s most identifiable people.
Allegations were first made public last month, and have sparked probes from police in multiple countries.
Mr Markle lived in Mexico until 2025, then in the Philippines until earlier this year, before returning to the US in May after a medical procedure.
On October 23, Mr Markle’s son, Thomas Markle Jr., claimed he had alerted police in the Philippines after finding a collection of child sexual abuse images at their father’s home.
Thomas Markle Sr denied the allegations, describing them as “sick lies”. Police in the Philippines have confirmed they are working with US authorities.
Meanwhile, the US Justice Department on Friday, in a statement, said it had raided two LA storage units linked to Mr Markle, and that it had seized around 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books that contained suspected child-abuse material.
“Two images depict an adult man – whom a witness identified as Markle – with a nude prepubescent girl,” the statement read.
A storage facility where Mexican authorities seized belongings of Thomas Markle, in Baja Malibu, on the outskirts Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico. (AFP: Guillermo Alias)
“The third image depicts a nude prepubescent girl in a room that appears to be part of a motel chain in the Philippines.
The same day her half-brother made his allegations last month, Meghan Markle, who has been estranged from her father since 2018, released a statement saying she had been “deeply distressed” by the allegations and “my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed”.
“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,” the Duchess said at the time.
Meanwhile, Mexican police have raided storage units in Rosarito, Baja California, linked to Thomas Markle Sr., seizing computers, VHS tapes, thumb drives and magazines after receiving an anonymous tip-off.
Mr Markle Sr. has claimed he does not have storage units in the area.
Meghan Markle married King Charles’s son, Prince Harry, in 2018.
The ABC understands she will not comment on her father’s arrest.
Source: www.abc.net.au
