Thomas Markle Sr appears in court charged with possession of child sex abuse material

The Duchess of Sussex’s father Thomas Markle Sr has been charged over alleged possession of child abuse material, including images of himself with young girls.

Markle Sr, 82, who is charged with one count of possession of child pornography, appeared in court in Tampa, Florida, on Friday.

The seized material was allegedly found in two Los Angeles storage units he rented for nearly two decades.

Markle Sr, of Lakeland, Florida, was taken into custody in Florida by FBI agents on Thursday.

The seized material was allegedly found in two Los Angeles storage units he rented for nearly two decades.

Acting on warrants, the FBI searched the storage units registered to Markle Sr which he had rented since 2008, with his most recent payments on both made last month by auto-pay.

Inside the units, agents seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected child sex abuse material.

The Duchess of Sussex and her father Thomas Markle Sr

Two of the images allegedly depict an adult man – whom a witness “positively identified” as Markle Sr– with a nude young girl.

In one of them, according to court documents, the man “appears to be in the age range of 30s to 40s”, which suggests the alleged abuse dates back decades given Markle Sr is now 82.

A third image is said to show a nude young girl in a room that appears to be part of a motel chain in the Philippines.

Other photographs allegedly show Markle Sr with children in various stages of undress.

If convicted, he would face at least 20 years in federal prison.

First assistant US attorney Bill Essayli said: “Mr Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls.

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

FBI director Kash Patel said: “The FBI and our partners have arrested Thomas Markle Sr after an FBI investigation revealed he was in possession of child sexual abuse material.

“Mr Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions.

Thomas Markle appears on Good Morning Britain in September 2023

ITV

“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.

“Thank-you to FBI Los Angeles, FBI Tampa, our Mexico and Marshall Islands law enforcement attaches, and our partners who executed quickly in this case.”

Patrick Grandy, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles field office, said: “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.”

His detention comes after he was reported to police in the Philippines and the FBI last month by his son, Thomas Markle Jnr after he allegedly found illegal images in his father’s belongings in Cebu City.

Earlier this month it was reported that hundreds of images of child sexual abuse allegedly belonging to Markle, 82, had been found at a property in the Philippines.

Markle Sr previously denied the allegations, describing them as "sick lies".

A second hoard was reportedly discovered last week in a storage unit Mr Markle Sr is said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico, during a raid by police.

Mexican authorities seized a storage unit with belongings of Thomas Markle Sr, during a search for alleged child sexual abuse material, in Baja Malibu, outskirts Tijuana, Baja California state, Mexico

AFP/Getty

Mr Markle Sr, who was living in a dementia care home in the US, has admitted to paying for sex in the Philippines but has denied ever possessing child abuse imagery.

Meghan, who moved back to the UK with Harry in August, said she was “deeply distressed” at the allegations about her father, from whom she has been estranged since the run-up to her 2018 wedding.

She revealed she was sent a letter via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2019 which made “troubling and disturbing allegations” about her father, but that she was given assurances these were being investigated.

The Met has admitted it never shared the details with other law enforcement agencies, with the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), now investigating the force’s conduct.

The duchess had wanted to “speak out” immediately after reading the letter but police advised her against this, sources said.

When former TV lighting director Mr Markle had his leg amputated in the Philippines last year, he made pleas for the duchess to contact him.

Meghan is said to have written him a final letter in which she said she knew he was an abuser and that he would never see his grandchildren Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.