The father of Meghan Markle has been arrested on charges related to child sexual abuse material.
Thomas Markle was arrested by federal agents near Tampa, Florida, The Associated Press reported.
Items seized
Update 12:39 p.m. ET, Nov. 6: First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said that federal agents searched two storage units in the Los Angeles area and “seized approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books” that contained suspected child sexual abuse images, the AP reported.
Two images, according to a Department of Justice news release, showed Thomas Markle with nude underage girls. A third allegedly showed him with “children in various stages of undress.”
Thomas Markle had rented the units since 2008, Essayli said.
He was expected to appear in court Friday afternoon.
The Department of Justice said Thomas Markle faces a count of possession of child pornography. If convicted, the DOJ said he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Original report: Sources who confirmed the arrest were not authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
CBS News reported that the case remains sealed.
The Duchess of Sussex said last month that she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that child sexual abuse images had been found at her father’s former home. Thomas Markle Jr., Meghan Markle’s half-brother, said he found “hundreds if not thousands” of images in boxes at the home in the Philippines as he was cleaning out their father’s home, the British tabloid the Sun reported in October. CNN reported, at the time, that images were also found on computer hard drives. The younger Thomas Markle said he told the authorities in the Philippines and the FBI earlier this year.
Images published by the Daily Mail and the Sun show Markle, Sr. handcuffed in a wheelchair.
Thomas Markle, Sr. has denied the allegations, calling them “sick lies,” the BBC reported.
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