An eighty-two-year-old man, long estranged from the daughter who became a duchess, has been taken into custody in Florida after federal investigators opened the boxes he had kept in storage for nearly two decades. The chain that led to him began not with a headline but with sworn words from someone who had seen what was kept in a distant country, and it moved step by step toward a Los Angeles unit that held the rest. Here the case joins a wider and grimmer public reckoning over how the powerful and the private are held to account for crimes against children. What it will mean for him now rests
Meghan Markle's Father Arrested in US on Child Sexual Abuse Material Charge
Photos allegedly show multiple underage girls, including a nude prepubescent girl, in cases of alleged sexual abuse of children.
Allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence
Mark
Let's start with how this case came together. It sounds like it began far from Los Angeles.
Mimi
It did. In October, authorities learned of an affidavit from someone who said they found abuse material among Markle's things in the Philippines. That led to a second person, who said he'd rented a storage unit near Los Angeles since 2008.
Mark
And that led to a second unit?
Mimi
Yes, information from the first person pointed to it. Then came warrants, and FBI agents searched both units and found 78 items.
Luke
Worth being clear about what we know. The 78 items and the photo descriptions come from the Justice Department and the affidavit. We haven't seen the material, and nothing has been tested in court.
Mark
The affidavit says a witness identified the man in two photos as Markle.
Luke
Right, a witness identified him. That's an allegation in a filing, not a finding. He's charged, not convicted.
Mimi
And the charge is possession of child sexual abuse material, with a maximum of 20 years if he's convicted.
Mark
What about Meghan's statement?
Mimi
She said she learned of the allegations in 2018 through a letter sent to the Met Police unit handling her security. She said her distance from him was to protect her children.
Luke
That's her account, given to the Times. We don't know what happened with that letter afterward, and her representative hadn't responded to the AP.
Mark
Anything else still open?
Luke
Whether he has a lawyer, what he'll plead, and what happens at the Florida hearing. None of that is in the reporting yet.
Il Polso
- A father's past surfaces in a federal courtroom, and a family's long silence is suddenly broken open by the Justice Department.
- A sworn affidavit from the Philippines set investigators in motion, and a second storage unit in Los Angeles became the place where the case deepened.
- Seventy-eight seized items and a stroke-driven return to the United States have turned a private exile into a public emergency.
- The case lands in a Florida court with a possible twenty-year federal sentence ahead, while the Duchess of Sussex has already said she distanced her children from him to protect them.
An eighty-two-year-old man, long estranged from the daughter who became a duchess, has been taken into custody in Florida after federal investigators opened the boxes he had kept in storage for nearly two decades. The chain that led to him began not with a headline but with sworn words from someone who had seen what was kept in a distant country, and it moved step by step toward a Los Angeles unit that held the rest. Here the case joins a wider and grimmer public reckoning over how the powerful and the private are held to account for crimes against children. What it will mean for him now rests with a court, and the weight of its evidence is for others to judge.
Thomas Markle Sr, the 82-year-old estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has been arrested in Florida on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material. The US Justice Department says FBI agents searched two storage units in the Los Angeles area, which he had rented for almost two decades, and recovered explicit photographs, film negatives and books depicting him with underage girls.
The case began in October, when someone signed an affidavit stating they had found abuse material among Markle's belongings in the Philippines. Investigators then spoke with another person who said Markle had rented a unit near Los Angeles since 2008. The first account pointed them to a second unit, and with warrants they searched both.
The affidavit describes three photographs, including one showing a nude prepubescent girl in what appears to be a hotel room in the Philippines. FBI Director Kash Patel said Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence.
Markle had been living in the Philippines earlier this year when a stroke and the amputation of his left leg forced him back to the United States. Meghan has said she first learned of the allegations in 2018, and that her distance from her father and her decision to keep him from her children were meant only to protect them. He is expected in a Florida court, where a conviction could bring up to 20 years in federal prison.
Thomas Markle Sr, the 82-year-old estranged father of Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, has been arrested in Florida on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material. The US Department of Justice announced the arrest on Friday. It said law enforcement officers had found sexually explicit photographs of him with prepubescent girls in two storage units in the Los Angeles area, which he had rented for almost two decades.
According to the Justice Department, the case began in October, when authorities learned that someone had signed an affidavit saying they had found child sexual abuse material among Markle's belongings in the Philippines. Investigators then interviewed a separate person, who told them Markle had rented a storage unit near Los Angeles since 2008. Information from the first individual led them to a second unit.
With warrants in hand, FBI agents searched both units, which were registered to Markle. They recovered 78 items, among them photographs, film negatives and books containing explicit imagery of him with underage girls.
The affidavit describes three of the photographs. In two, a man whom a witness identified as Markle appears with a nude prepubescent girl. The third shows a nude underage girl in what appeared to be a hotel room in the Philippines. The affidavit also says officials found photos that seemed to show Markle with children in various stages of undress.
FBI Director Kash Patel spoke about the case on Thursday. He said Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions.
Markle had been living in the Philippines earlier this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated. The medical emergency forced him to return to the United States.
Meghan gave a statement to The New York Times in October. She said she first learned of allegations against her father in 2018, when a letter detailing them was sent to the London Metropolitan Police unit that was then handling her security. She wrote that she was deeply distressed by news that had emerged in the previous 24 hours, an apparent reference to reports in the British tabloid the Sun, and that her thoughts were with any children who may have been harmed. She added that, despite what she called some media outlets' distortion over the years, any distance from her father, and her decision not to let him have contact with her children, had one purpose: to protect them. The Associated Press tried to reach her representative on Friday and had not heard back.
The arrest comes as President Donald Trump's administration faces criticism over its handling of cases involving child abuse, particularly the release of files from the investigation into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. Last year, King Charles stripped Prince Andrew of his princely title as he tried to shield the royal family from the scandal around his brother's relationship with Epstein. Meghan, Prince Harry and their children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, moved back to the United Kingdom in August.
Markle is expected to appear in a Florida court on Friday. If convicted, the Justice Department said, he could face up to 20 years in a US federal prison.
Citazioni salienti
Mr Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions.— FBI Director Kash Patel
Any distance from her father, and her choice not to let him have contact with their children, was to protect them.— Meghan, duchess of Sussex, in a statement to The New York Times (paraphrased)
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Politics & Governance