Federal agents arrested Thomas Markle, the 82-year-old father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, in Florida on Friday, accusing him of keeping child sexual abuse material in two California storage units he had paid for since 2008.
He faces one count of possessing child pornography in a case filed by federal prosecutors in the Central District of California. A conviction carries a maximum of 20 years in federal prison.
Agents took roughly 78 items, among them books, slides and film negatives, from the Los Angeles-area units: 27 from one and 51 from the other. According to the criminal complaint, at least 18 images appear to be child pornography, and some of the seized material is still under review.
The complaint alleges that two images show a clothed adult man with a nude young girl, and a witness told investigators the man was Markle. The FBI said the background in one photo pointed to a hotel in the Philippines.
Investigators also determined that some of the film was made in New York, meaning it would have crossed state lines to reach California, a link the FBI cited in establishing interstate commerce.
Markle, who lives in Lakeland, appeared in federal court in Tampa on Friday afternoon in a wheelchair. A magistrate judge released him on his own recognizance, ordering home detention with electronic monitoring at the dementia care facility where he lives and barring travel beyond the two federal districts handling the case, one in Florida and one in California.
He did not enter a plea. Prosecutors have not decided whether the case will stay in Florida or move to California, where the charges originated, and an arraignment there is likely at least several weeks away.
A trail that began abroad
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said the seized material showed no evidence of victims in the United States, though the investigation continues. He said his office knew of public reports that Markle might have dementia.
These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.
Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California
The federal case grew out of an inquiry in the Philippines, where Markle had lived for some time. In October, U.S. law enforcement learned that someone had signed an affidavit describing suspected abuse material among his belongings there, and a second person told agents about a Los Angeles storage unit. Further information led to the other unit.
Philippine National Police said they opened their investigation after Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr., turned over his father's personal items. The son, 60, said he found the material at his father's former home in Cebu and reported it to police there and to the FBI. Philippine authorities later said they had recovered thousands of photos of minors.
Mexico has its own thread. The Baja California State Attorney General's Office said a search on Oct. 29, prompted by a 911 call, uncovered three old magazines and VHS tapes containing child pornography, and that the case went to the federal Attorney General's Office for follow-up. FBI Director Kash Patel credited authorities in Mexico, the Philippines and the Marshall Islands with helping.
Meghan's earlier warning
Markle, a retired television lighting and photography director, has denied the allegations, dismissing them as untrue.
Meghan said last month she was deeply distressed by the accusations and disclosed that a letter raising allegations about her father had been sent years earlier to London's Metropolitan Police. The Met said it did not pass those claims to other agencies at the time and referred itself to Britain's police watchdog.
Meghan has said she kept her children, Archie and Lilibet, away from her father solely to protect them. A spokesperson for the Duke and Duchess of Sussex declined to comment on the arrest.
