Authorities in the Philippines will likely make a decision on whether to charge Meghan Markle's father over alleged indecent images of children "within a week", a prosecutor has revealed.
Thomas Markle Snr is alleged to have possessed a quantity of sex abuse images depicting children at his home in Cebu, in the Philippines. The images were found after a recent stroke meant the Duchess of Sussex's father was forced to travel back to the US for medical treatment.
Prosecutor's stance on the allegations
Speaking to Sky News, Chief prosecutor for Bohol and Cebu Graeme June Elmido said: "For me everybody who hurts a child is a monster. So it doesn't have any distinction as far as I'm concerned. I'm concerned with prosecuting them and putting them in jail – that's it."
Mr Elmido went on: "There is no case filed yet, so as far as we are concerned there is no accused yet. If after examining those materials that he turned over, if it will lead to a case, then that is where we will proceed with it.
Evidence examination timeline
"But he [Thomas Markle Snr] alleges that it belongs to somebody else and as far as we are concerned it's an allegation, we still have to confirm that by examining the evidence.
"For me every case that involves exploitation is big. Time is of the essence here and if we can look at the evidence in a week or in a few days, that would be good."
