Meghan Markle's elderly father arrested in connection with sexual perversion

Thomas Markle, Meghan's father, the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested by U.S. federal agents in Florida on Friday and charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said.

Markle, 82, was taken into custody at a care facility in Polk County early Friday morning, and appeared briefly in federal court in Tampa on Friday afternoon. He was later released on the condition that he be electronically monitored.

The 14-page federal criminal suit says agents seized about 78 items and alleges Markle kept child sexual abuse material, including his explicit photos with prepubescent girls, in two warehouses in the Los Angeles area that he rented for nearly two decades.

A sworn affidavit attached to the complaint that led to the arrest said two images inside the cameras showed a man identified by a witness as Markle with a naked underage girl.

The document, filed in federal court in California, said the seized material included dozens of slides, photos, film negatives and books containing illegal material. It said the FBI was still looking into the material.

FBI Director Cash Patel said: Mr. Markle allegedly persecuted innocent children and sought to strip them of their innocence through his criminal acts. “The FBI will use every resource at our disposal to protect innocent children – any predator that attacks children will have no safe haven in this country or any other place where they try to hide.”.

Patel thanked FBI agents in Los Angeles and Tampa, as well as authorities in Mexico, the Philippines and the Marshall Islands, who he said were involved in the investigation.

Some details in the criminal complaint have been redacted, such as the name of the federal agent who signed the complaint stating that he works for the Violent Crimes Against Children Unit at the FBI's Los Angeles office. The case is presented as "United States of America v. Thomas Wayne Markle.".

“Mr. Markle is charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, including photographs of him with underage girls,” Bill Essaley, the first assistant attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice.

“These charges are extremely serious and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.”.

Essaley told The Associated Press that, judging by the seized materials, there is no evidence of victims in the US, but the investigation is ongoing. He said his office was aware of public reports that Markle may have dementia.

Markle is charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse material and faces up to 20 years in federal prison if found guilty.

Meghan, the wife of Prince Harry, said last month she was "deeply saddened" by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images was found at her father's former home in the Philippines.

The Duchess of Sussex said a letter was sent to London police in 2018 containing “disturbing allegations” against her father.

She issued the statement after the Sun newspaper published claims that her half-brother Thomas Markle Jr. allegedly discovered a stash of photos belonging to their father at his residence in the Philippines. Earlier this week, he was named a defendant in the case.

Last month, FBI agents interviewed a man who was aware that Markle had rented two warehouses in California after the bureau became aware of events in the Philippines, according to a Justice Department statement.

It said Markle had rented the apartments since 2008, with the latest payments made last month via an automatic payment system.

Photos published by The Daily Mail show Thomas Markle Sr. being taken away in a wheelchair, in handcuffs, wearing a black T-shirt and surrounded by agents wearing jackets labeled "FBI." A British tabloid asked Markle if he was a paedophile and he replied: "No." Markle did not respond when the paper asked if he had ever collected material about child sexual abuse.

Authorities in the Philippines, where Markle previously lived for some time, launched an investigation into him last month over allegations he had child sexual abuse images. British police last month said they would refer the charges against him to foreign law enforcement after it was revealed they were not passed on to other authorities when they first arrived.

Tom Markle is a former television lighting and photography director, and he did not attend Harry and Meghan's wedding in 2018 due to the animosity and alienation between father and daughter. Meghan has since said she decided to distance herself from him to protect her children. The Duke and Duchess returned to the UK this summer after spending six years in the US.