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The FBI announced on Friday that it had arrested Thomas Markle Sr., the 82‑year‑old father of former U.S. First Lady Meghan Markle, on a charge of possession of child pornography. The suspect will appear before a federal court in Tampa, Florida, later that day. In a statement, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Bill Essayli said, “Mr. Markle is charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, including photographs in which he appears with minors.” The indictment alleges that the defendant possessed approximately 78 items—slides, film negatives, and books—containing sexually explicit material. The items were found in two storage units in the Los Angeles area that Markle had rented for nearly twenty years. The arrest followed a broader investigation that began in the Philippines, where Markle had lived until mid‑2026 before relocating to Lakeland, Florida. Philippine authorities seized about 7,500 photographs and a video depicting children aged 10 to 11 of Asian, Latin, and European descent. The evidence was reportedly provided by Thomas Markle Jr., the arrested man’s son. If convicted, Markle faces a maximum federal sentence of 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to appear before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Florida in Tampa on Friday. Meghan Markle wrote in a letter to the British newspaper The Sun on October 23 that she had known about the allegations against her father since 2018, after the UK police had forwarded the information to her. She said she had severed contact with him and restricted his access to her children as a result. Article source: El Nuevo Diario | Image credit: El Nuevo Diario
The FBI announced on Friday that it had arrested Thomas Markle Sr., the 82‑year‑old father of former U.S. First Lady Meghan Markle, on a charge of possession of child pornography. The suspect will appear before a federal court in Tampa, Florida, later that day. In a statement, U.S. Assistant Attorney General Bill Essayli said, “Mr. Markle is charged with possession of child sexual abuse material, including photographs in which he appears with minors.” The indictment alleges that the defendant possessed approximately 78 items—slides, film negatives, and books—containing sexually explicit material. The items were found in two storage units in the Los Angeles area that Markle had rented for nearly twenty years. The arrest followed a broader investigation that began in the Philippines, where Markle had lived until mid‑2026 before relocating to Lakeland, Florida. Philippine authorities seized about 7,500 photographs and a video depicting children aged 10 to 11 of Asian, Latin, and European descent. The evidence was reportedly provided by Thomas Markle Jr., the arrested man’s son. If convicted, Markle faces a maximum federal sentence of 20 years in prison. He is scheduled to appear before the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Florida in Tampa on Friday. Meghan Markle wrote in a letter to the British newspaper The Sun on October 23 that she had known about the allegations against her father since 2018, after the UK police had forwarded the information to her. She said she had severed contact with him and restricted his access to her children as a result.
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