Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida on Friday in connection with allegations that he possessed child sex abuse materials in storage units in California, the Justice Department announced. The announcement came after three sources familiar with the matter confirmed the arrest to CBS News. The case remains under seal, one source added.
The Justice Department said Markle was arrested for allegedly keeping child sexual abuse material, including sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two Los Angeles-area storage units he rented for nearly two decades. Markle is set for an initial court appearance Friday in Tampa, Florida. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney who can respond to the allegations.
"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, said in a statement. The Daily Mail, a British tabloid newspaper, first reported Markle's arrest.
Last month, it was reported that Markle was under investigation by authorities in the Philippines for alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials. Markle has denied the claims against him, calling them "sick lies." "I have never downloaded anything like that in my life," he was quoted as telling the Daily Mail. A spokesperson for the Philippine National Police told CBS News in a statement that they launched an investigation after Markle's personal items were turned over to law enforcement by his son, Thomas Markle Jr.
Markle Jr. told the Sun tabloid last month that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the FBI. "I have supported, cared for him and helped him for years — but that stops now," Markle Jr. told The Sun. "I won't speak to my father ever again unless I'm called to give evidence against him." The Daily Mail reported last week that it alerted the FBI of a cache of child porn found inside a storage unit Markle Sr. had rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico.
In a statement on Friday, the Baja California State Attorney General's Office in Mexico confirmed to CBS News that a search was conducted on Oct. 29 after a report via the 911 emergency line. "During the operation, three old magazines and VHS tapes containing child pornography were discovered," the office said in its statement. "The evidence and the associated case files were referred to the Attorney General's Office (FGR), which will handle the follow-up to the case." According to an affidavit in the complaint filed in federal court, the investigation in the Philippines led law enforcement to investigate two storage units registered to Markle Sr. in the Los Angeles area that he had rented since 2008, with the most recent payments on both made last month by auto-pay.
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