Thomas Markle Sr. cut off his ankle monitor following child porn arrest
Meghan Markle‘s estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., allegedly cut off his ankle monitor following his arrest on child pornography charges.
Four days ago, Markle Sr., 82, was ordered to wear a location monitoring device after a federal judge allowed him to remain out of custody pending his trial, according to Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California. Markle Sr. was arrested in Florida and is charged in the Central District of California with possession of child pornography.
“He allegedly cut the bracelet off at 1:45 a.m. last night,” Essayli posted on X on Tuesday. “Release conditions are court orders, not suggestions. We are asking the court to revoke his release and detain him pending trial, and we will continue to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsay Saxe Griffin has since ordered Markle Sr. to be jailed without bond at a hearing in Tampa, representatives from Essayli’s office told The Times.
Markle Sr. was arrested after federal authorities searched two storage units he allegedly rents in California. The storage units had been registered to Markle Sr. since 2008, with his most recent payments on both made in October via auto-pay.
Inside the storage units, agents say they found approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books that contained suspected child pornography. The affidavit describes two images that show an adult man with a nude prepubescent girl. A third image depicts a nude prepubescent girl what appears to be a motel room in the Philippines. A witness who has known Markle Sr. since the 1970s identified him as the man in at least two photographs with a minor, according to the complaint.
An external view of the Sean M. Gibbons U.S. Courthouse in Tampa, Fla. Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle Sr., is facing charges of child pornography possession.
(Mike Carlson / Getty Images)
The affidavit further describes additional photographs that appear to show Markle Sr. with children in various stages of undress.
Last month, Meghan’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jr. claimed he’d found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child pornography images inside four large boxes at the Cebu, Philippines, home of his father, Markle Sr., and contacted authorities, according to the British tabloid the Sun.
Meghan’s team issued a statement to The Times following reports of the news, writing that she was “deeply distressed.”
“My thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” she said.
“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 continued, adding, “I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them.”
The Duchess of Sussex said that she trusted authorities were “doing the same for other families.”
“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children,” she said.
Meghan’s relationship with her father, a former Hollywood lighting director, has been the subject of media scrutiny since 2018, when she and Prince Harry tied the knot. Markle Sr. did not attend the wedding.
Last month, Markle Sr. denied the accusations, calling them “bulls—” and “lies.” If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison.