Meghan Markle’s father was arrested Friday morning by federal agents in Florida on charges related to child sexual abuse material.
Thomas Markle Sr. was arrested on a federal criminal complaint alleging he kept child sexual abuse material, including sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two Los Angeles-area storage units he rented for nearly two decades, according to the FBI.
Markle Sr. is charged with one count of possession of child pornography and expected to make his initial appearance Friday in United States District Court in the Middle District of Florida in Tampa.
“Mr. Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli. “These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.”
FBI Director Kash Patel said that an investigation revealed that Markle Sr. was “in possession of child sexual abuse material.”
“Mr. Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions. Working with our Justice Department partners, our agents moved quickly, identified and located the explicit material, and arrested Mr. Markle in Florida. This FBI will use every single resource at our disposal to protect innocent kids – any predator who targets children will have zero safe haven in this country or anywhere they try to hide,” Patel added.
“This case highlights the importance of the involvement of the public, even if it’s a family member or close friend, to be vigilant and speak up if they have information on individuals they suspect may be preying on and exploiting our children,” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.
FBI special agents searched two storage units registered to Markle Sr., who has rented the units in Los Angeles since 2008, with his most recent payments on both made last month by auto-pay, according to the FBI.
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Inside the units, agents seized approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected child sexual abuse material.
If convicted, Markle Sr. would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to the FBI.
Markle Sr.’s arrest comes after The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, reported that Meghan’s half-brother allegedly found images while cleaning out the home of their father in the Philippines.
Meghan’s father denied the allegations against him in a statement to the Daily Mail, saying, “I’m shocked, I’m hurt and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me.”
“I could never do what I’m being accused of. It’s the worst thing anyone could accuse me of,” he added.
The Duchess of Sussex said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her estranged father’s former home.
“I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” Meghan said in a statement to The Associated Press.
She also addressed a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police Service’s Royal and Specialist Protection unit.
“In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” she continued.
Meghan went on to say that she has not had a relationship with her father to protect her children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5.
“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,” Meghan said. “I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families.”
“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children,” her statement concluded.
Thomas Markle Sr., 82, 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 Associated Press reports.
The Sun alleged that Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., had recently found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father’s home in the Philippine city of Cebu when he was clearing out the property.
He told the newspaper that he reported the alleged images to police in the Philippines.
Markle Jr., 60, told the outlet that he contacted FBI investigators in the U.S. who are reportedly set to launch their own probe.
“The FBI is aware of the allegations and will provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities. We will also investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law,” an FBI spokesperson told Global News in October.
Last week, British police said they would refer allegations about Meghan’s father to overseas law enforcement agencies, after a review found the claims had not been passed to other authorities when they were first received in 2019.
London’s Metropolitan Police said it had received a letter in January 2019 in which the author said they “were writing to raise concerns relating to the security of the Duchess of Sussex.”
“While the letter did not actually contain any information specifically related to security matters, it did contain a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom,” the Metropolitan police said in a news release.
“The letter was assessed and subsequently passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies,” said Metropolitan Police’s Protection Commander Adam Slonecki.
Slonecki said that an internal review had led to the matter being referred to the police watchdog and that the force was now sharing the allegations with overseas authorities.
“In recent days, the Met’s Directorate of Professional Standards has carried out an initial review into our actions following receipt of the letter in 2019,” Slonecki said.
“Following that review, a voluntary referral has been made to the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) in respect of the decision not to inform other law enforcement agencies and the decision to pass the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex,” he said.
“In addition, it is our intention to make a number of referrals to relevant overseas law enforcement agencies in relation to the allegations contained within the letter. That process is underway and will be completed in the coming days,” Slonecki added.
—With files from Reuters and The Associated Press
Source: globalnews.ca
