Thomas Markle arrested on federal child pornography charge after California storage unit raids
Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida and charged in California with possession of child pornography following FBI raids of two storage units.
Federal authorities arrested Thomas Markle, 82, in Florida on Friday and charged him in the Central District of California with possession of child pornography. The indictment says agents seized material from two Los Angeles-area storage units that Markle allegedly rented since 2008, including photographs that appear to show a man with a nude prepubescent girl and other images of children in various states of undress.
A magistrate judge ordered Markle's release on personal recognizance, with conditions of home detention and electronic monitoring. If convicted, the statute provides a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
"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 news release.
The investigation follows a parallel probe by Philippine authorities after Thomas Markle Jr. reported finding child-pornography images in boxes at their father's home in Cebu. Philippine officials have named Markle Jr. as a person of interest in a case involving thousands of images and a video recovered from digital devices allegedly linked to Thomas Markle Sr.
Markle has denied the accusations, stating he is shocked and hurt by the claims. His daughter, Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, expressed distress over the allegations and said her priority is the safety and protection of children.
The FBI's complaint notes that a witness provided an affidavit identifying Markle in at least two of the photographs. Agents seized approximately 27 items from the first storage unit and about 51 items from the second, converting film negatives to digital images as part of their analysis.