Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested by US federal agents in Florida on Friday and charged in connection with possession of child sexual abuse material, according to federal law enforcement.
Markle, ۸۲, was taken into custody at a nursing home near Tampa early on Friday, and was expected to appear in court in Tampa in the early afternoon, the US justice department said in a statement.
A ۱۴-page federal criminal complaint alleges that he kept child sexual abuse material, including sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two Los Angeles-area storage units that he rented for nearly two decades.
The document, filed in federal court in California, said the recovered material included dozens of slides, photographs, film negatives, and books containing the illegal material. It said the FBI was still reviewing the material.
“Mr Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls,” Bill Essayli, first assistant US attorney for the central district of California, said in a statement.
“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.”
Markle is charged with one count of possession of child sexual abuse material, and faces up to ۲۰ years in federal prison if convicted.
Meghan the wife of Prince Harry, said last month that she was “deeply distressed” about allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images was found at her father’s former home in the Philippines.
The duchess also revealed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about her father was sent to police in London in ۲۰۱۸.
She had issued a statement after the Sun newspaper published claims that her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr, alleged he had found a stash of images belonging to their father at his Philippines residence. He was named as a person of interest in the case earlier this week.
According to the justice department statement, FBI agents interviewed a person last month who was aware that Markle was renting the two storage units in California after the bureau became aware of developments in the Philippines.
Markle rented the units since ۲۰۰۸, it said, with his most recent payments on both made last month by auto-pay.
Photographs produced by the Daily Mail showed Thomas Markle Sr being taken away in a wheelchair, in handcuffs, wearing a black T-shirt and surrounded by agents wearing jackets marked FBI. The UK tabloid asked Markle if he was a pedophile and he replied: “No.” Markle did not answer when the newspaper asked if he had ever collected child sexual abuse material.
Markle is a retired television lighting and photography director and he did not attend the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan, amid acrimony and estrangement between father and daughter. Meghan has since said she decided to distance herself from him to protect her children.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report
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In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on ۸۰۰-۴۲۲-۴۴۵۳ or visit their website for more resources and to report child abuse or DM for help. For adult survivors of child abuse, help is available at ascasupport.org. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on ۰۸۰۰ ۱۱۱۱, and adults concerned about a child on ۰۸۰۸ ۸۰۰ ۵۰۰۰. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on ۰۸۰۸ ۸۰۱ ۰۳۳۱. In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on ۱۸۰۰ ۵۵ ۱۸۰۰, or Bravehearts on ۱۸۰۰ ۲۷۲ ۸۳۱, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on ۱۳۰۰ ۶۵۷ ۳۸۰. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International
