Thomas Markle arrested in Florida on child pornography charges

Thomas Markle, 82, the estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida on Friday and charged with one count of possession of child pornography, according to a criminal complaint filed by the Justice Department. The FBI seized about 78 items from two storage units rented by Markle, including film negatives that authorities say depict an adult man with naked pre-pubescent girls. A witness positively identified the man in the images as Markle.

"These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law," First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said in a statement.

"Working with our Justice Department partners, our agents moved quickly, identified and located the explicit material, and arrested Mr. Markle in Florida," FBI Director Kash Patel said.

The arrest follows earlier investigations in the Philippines, where authorities reported recovering thousands of photos of underage males and females that were allegedly kept by Markle. Markle, a retired television lighting and photography director, denied the allegations last month, calling them "sick lies."

A spokesperson for Prince Harry and Meghan declined to comment, and Buckingham Palace did not respond to a request for comment. In a statement last month, Meghan said she was "deeply distressed" by the allegations and that she had kept her children away from her father for their protection.

The FBI’s complaint notes that the storage units were rented in California since 2008 and that some of the seized film was manufactured in New York, indicating interstate commerce. The agency also determined that the images were taken in a hotel in the Philippines based on background details in the photographs.