Thomas Markle Sr. arrested in Florida on child pornography charge
Meghan Markle's estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., 82, was arrested by the FBI in Florida on one count of possession of child pornography.
Thomas Markle Sr., 82, arrested by FBI on child pornography charge
Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested by federal authorities in Florida on Friday on one count of possession of child pornography, according to abc7.com, citing the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California.
Markle, 82, is accused of storing suspected child sexual abuse material in two Los Angeles-area storage units he had rented for nearly two decades. He had been living in the Philippines since early 2025 before recently relocating to Florida.
FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed the arrest in a statement: "Mr. Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions. Working with our Justice Department partners, our agents moved quickly, identified and located the explicit material, and arrested Mr. Markle in Florida."
The arrest followed law enforcement officials learning last month that an unnamed individual had signed an affidavit "regarding their discovery of suspected child sexual abuse material among Markle's possessions in the Philippines," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Through a second unnamed individual, investigators also learned of the two rented storage units in the Los Angeles area.
Markle is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Tampa on Friday afternoon. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
During Meghan's childhood, Markle lived in Los Angeles, where he worked as a lighting director on television productions including General Hospital and Married… With Children. He has been estranged from his daughter since her 2018 wedding to Prince Harry.
Markle had previously denied allegations reported by The Sun that Philippine authorities were investigating him for allegedly possessing child sexual abuse material — claims that originated from his son, Thomas Markle Jr., Meghan's half-brother. The Philippine Department of Justice subsequently told ABC News the matter was under investigation by an anti-trafficking task force in Cebu.
In an interview with The Daily Mail published on 23 October, Markle Sr. called the accusations "sick lies" and "the worst thing anyone could accuse me of."
"I'm shocked, I'm hurt and I'm very upset that my son is making these accusations against me. I could never do what I'm being accused of," he told the outlet.
A spokesperson for Meghan declined to comment on Friday.
Last month, the Duchess of Sussex issued a statement following The Sun's report, saying: "I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed."
Meghan also disclosed in her 23 October statement that a letter containing "troubling and disturbing allegations" against her father had been sent to British police in 2018 and was later shared with her.
"In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated," she said.
The Metropolitan Police Service subsequently confirmed the existence of the letter, dating it to January 2019 — a discrepancy a spokesperson for Meghan attributed to the duchess possibly misremembering the timing by a few months.
"Following a thorough review of Met Police systems and records, we have confirmed that in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom," the MPS said in a statement. "It was sent to the MPS Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex. The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness. The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies."
Markle Sr. became estranged from his daughter after he posed for staged paparazzi photographs and did not attend her wedding to Prince Harry. Harry and Meghan, parents of two children, moved back to the United Kingdom in August after six years living in California. ABC News said it had not been able to reach Markle for comment.
Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)