Miami, US (EFE).- The FBI confirmed that Thomas Markle Sr, the father of the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, was arrested and charged with one count of possession of child pornography on Friday.
“Mr. Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls,” said United States Assistant Attorney Bill Essayli in a statement.
Markle, 82, is expected to appear Friday before the US District Court for the Central District of Florida in Tampa.
The FBI revealed that it found approximately 78 items containing sexually explicit material in two storage units in the Los Angeles area that Markle Sr. had rented for nearly two decades.
The discovery occurred amid an investigation launched in the Philippines, where Markle Sr. lived until he moved to Lakeland, Florida, in mid-2026.
According to law enforcement sources, Thomas Markle Sr. was arrested in Lakeland by federal agents.
In the Philippines, authorities seized nearly 7,500 photographs and one video featuring minors of Asian, Latino, and European descent, both boys and girls, between the ages of 10 and 11, from Markle Sr.’s residence in Cebu City. The seizure followed a complaint filed by Thomas Markle Jr., one of the arrested man’s sons.
If convicted, Markle would face a maximum sentence of 20 years in a federal prison.
On Oct. 23, Meghan Markle wrote in a letter to the British newspaper The Sun that she had known about the allegations against her father since 2018, when British police informed her of them.
She cut off contact with her father and prevented him from seeing her children. EFE
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