Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been released into house arrest after being charged in the US with possessing child sexual abuse material.
The 82-year-old was arrested by federal agents in Florida and appeared before a US magistrate judge in Tampa on Friday. He has not entered a plea.
Prosecutors allege that Mr Markle kept sexually explicit photographs involving prepubescent girls in two storage units in the Los Angeles area, which he had rented for nearly two decades.
First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said Mr Markle was accused of possessing “photographs depicting himself with minor girls”. The allegations have not been proven in court.
A court ordered Mr Markle’s release subject to house arrest. He is barred from travelling outside the Middle District of Florida and the Central District of California while the case proceeds.
Because of his age, physical condition and apparent memory problems, the court has also ordered him to undergo a psychiatric evaluation. His arraignment in California has not yet been scheduled and prosecutors said it could take several weeks.
Evidence seized by federal agents
The US Department of Justice said agents seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books containing suspected child sexual abuse material.
A criminal complaint alleges that two images showed a man, identified by a witness as Mr Markle, with a nude prepubescent girl. Another image reportedly showed a nude girl in a room appearing to be part of a motel chain in the Philippines.
The complaint also refers to an image of a clothed man with a nude girl sitting on his lap. An FBI agent alleged that the man’s hand was reaching around the girl’s body and touching her inappropriately. A redacted version of the image was later shown to a witness, who identified the man as Mr Markle.
If convicted, Mr Markle faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, according to prosecutors.
The allegations had previously prompted an investigation in the Philippines after Mr Markle’s son said he had discovered indecent images of underage children in storage boxes and on computer hard drives at his father’s home there.
Mr Markle has vehemently denied the allegations. “I’m shocked, I’m hurt and I’m very upset that my son is making these accusations against me,” he told the Daily Mail.
He also said the computer equipment had not been in his possession since he left Mexico with his son Thomas Markle in 2025. The FBI previously said it was aware of the allegations and would support Philippine authorities as appropriate, while investigating any related alleged violations of US law.
Meghan’s response
Meghan said in October that she was “deeply distressed” by a report that her father possessed a collection of images depicting child sexual abuse. A spokesperson for the Duchess said there was no comment at this time following Mr Markle’s arrest.
Meghan and her father have been estranged for years. He did not attend her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018, and she later told Oprah Winfrey: “I grieve a lot … I’ve lost my father.”
