Thomas Markle Sr, the father of the Duchess of Sussex, has been taken back into custody after authorities say he cut off his electronic monitoring tag. The move comes just days after he was released on bail following his arrest on charges of possessing child sexual abuse material.
Markle Sr was granted bail by a judge on Friday on the condition that he remain under house arrest and wear an electronic tag to monitor his movements. The court in Tampa, Florida, also imposed restrictions on his travel.
Prosecutors Call for Bail Revocation
Prosecutors have now called for his bail to be revoked after he allegedly removed the device in the early hours of the morning. Writing on X, First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said: "Four days ago, a federal judge allowed Mr Markle to remain out of custody pending trial. He was ordered to wear a location monitoring device. He allegedly cut the bracelet off at 1.45am last night. Release conditions are court orders, not suggestions."
Essayli added: "We are asking the court to revoke his release and detain him pending trial, and we will continue to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law." US Magistrate Judge Lindsay Saxe Griffin of the Middle District of Florida subsequently ordered Markle to be held in custody.
Arrest and Investigation Details
Markle Sr was arrested by FBI agents on Friday after they seized a haul of material from two Los Angeles storage units he rented for nearly two decades. He is charged with one count of possession of child pornography.
He came under investigation after he was reported to police in the Philippines and the FBI last month by his son, Thomas Markle Jr, who allegedly found illegal images in his father's belongings in Cebu City. Mr Markle Jr told The Sun newspaper he had tipped off the authorities about the LA storage facilities.
Acting on warrants, the FBI searched the units registered to Markle Sr, which he had rented since 2008, with his most recent payments on both made last month by auto-pay. Inside, agents seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected child sex abuse material.
Two of the images allegedly depict an adult man – whom a witness "positively identified" as Markle – with a nude young girl. In one of them, according to court documents, the man "appears to be in the age range of 30s to 40s", which suggests the alleged abuse dates back decades, given Markle is now 82.
Allegations and Family Response
A third image is said to show a nude young girl in a room that appears to be part of a motel chain in the Philippines. Other photographs allegedly show Markle with children in various stages of undress. If convicted, Markle would face at least 20 years in federal prison.
Markle Sr, who was living in a dementia care home in the US, has admitted paying for sex in the Philippines but has denied ever possessing child abuse imagery. Meghan, who moved back to the UK with Harry in August, said she was "deeply distressed" at the allegations about her father, from whom she has been estranged since the run-up to her 2018 wedding.
She revealed she was sent a letter via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2019 which made "troubling and disturbing allegations" about her father, but she was given assurances these were being investigated. The Met has admitted it never shared the details with other law enforcement agencies, with the police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct, now investigating the force's conduct.
The duchess had wanted to "speak out" immediately after reading the letter but police advised her against this, sources said. When former TV lighting director Markle Sr had his leg amputated in the Philippines last year, he made pleas for the duchess to contact him. Meghan is said to have written him a final letter in which she said she knew he was an abuser and that he would never see his grandchildren, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet.
