Thomas Markle Sr., father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was taken into custody by federal agents in Florida on Friday and faces charges related to the possession of child sexual abuse material, federal law enforcement officials said.
The 82-year-old was detained at a nursing facility near Tampa early Friday and was slated to appear before a federal court in Tampa later that afternoon, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice.
A 14-page federal criminal complaint alleges that Markle stored child sexual abuse material—including sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls—in two storage units in the Los Angeles area that he rented for almost 20 years.
Filed in federal court in California, the complaint states that investigators recovered dozens of slides, photographs, film negatives, and books containing illicit material. The FBI continues to review the evidence, the document notes.
“Mr. Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls,” said Bill Essayli, first assistant U.S. attorney for the Central District of California, in a statement.
“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” the statement added.
Markle is charged with a single count of possession of child sexual abuse material and faces a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
Last month, Meghan, wife of Prince Harry, said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a trove of child sexual abuse images had been discovered at her father’s former residence in the Philippines.
The duchess also disclosed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about her father was sent to London police in 2018.
Her statement followed a report by The Sun in which her half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., alleged he had discovered a collection of images belonging to their father at the latter’s Philippines home. Markle Jr. was identified as a person of interest in the investigation earlier this week.
The Justice Department statement said FBI agents interviewed an individual last month who knew Markle was renting the two California storage units, after the bureau learned of developments tied to the Philippines.
According to the filing, Markle had rented the units since 2008, with the most recent payments on both processed last month via auto-pay.
Photographs published by the Daily Mail show Thomas Markle Sr. being transported in a wheelchair, in handcuffs and wearing a black T-shirt, surrounded by agents in jackets marked “FBI.” When asked by the UK tabloid whether he was a pedophile, he replied, “No.” He did not respond when the newspaper asked if he had ever collected child sexual abuse material.
A retired television lighting and photography director, Markle did not attend Prince Harry and Meghan’s wedding amid a prolonged estrangement between father and daughter. Meghan has since said she distanced herself from him to protect her children.