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Thomas Markle Sr., father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida on charges related to child sexual abuse material, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press.
Thomas Markle Sr., the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida on charges related to child sexual abuse material, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press. The people were not authorized to publicly discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity. Markle was taken into custody near Tampa.
The arrest follows reports by The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, that Meghan’s half brother, Thomas Markle Jr., found a collection of child sexual abuse images while clearing out the home of their father in the Philippines. The Sun reported that Thomas Markle Jr. recently found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father’s former home in Cebu City, in the Philippines. Markle Jr. told the newspaper that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the FBI.
Meghan Markle recently said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father’s former home. She also revealed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about him had been sent to London police in 2018.
“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” Meghan said of the letter. “I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children was for one reason: to protect them.”
Meghan, an American citizen who starred in the U.S. television drama “Suits,” married Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018. They have two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. Her father, a retired television lighting and photography director, did not attend the wedding. Meghan has said she decided to distance herself from him to protect her children. Thomas Markle Sr. was living in the Philippines earlier this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated. That forced him to return to the U.S.
The arrest involves the father of a senior member of the British royal family and follows public allegations about child sexual abuse material found at his former home in the Philippines.
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This article was drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources above. Company claims are reported as claims. Cover image is AI-generated.
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