Detectives investigating Thomas Markle Snr over alleged child sexual abuse have recovered more than 7,000 photos so far, according to reports. The Philippines' Interior and Local Government Secretary Jonvic Remulla told a press conference in Manila on Thursday that a video was found alongside the haul of images.
He said they were all of under-age girls and boys of Asian, Latin and European descent, with some as young as 10 and 11. Mr Remulla described the images as "the most deplorable displays of impunity towards sexual activity that I have ever seen".
Son Named as Person of Interest
It also emerged that Meghan Markle's half brother Thomas Markle Jr has been named as a person of interest in the child sexual abuse image allegations facing their father. Mr Remulla said: "We're determining if [the] son is involved... There are signs that point that the son is involved in the crime as well but only as a person of interest so far."
He added: "We will know in the next few days." Mr Markle Sr, who returned to the US in May, has admitted paying for sex in the Philippines but denies possessing child abuse imagery.
Storage Unit Raids and Royal Reaction
The latest development comes after reports that Mr Markle Jr had alerted the FBI to two storage units in Los Angeles, just days after a raid by Mexican police on a storage unit Mr Markle Snr is said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico.
Meghan herself has spoken of feeling "deeply distressed" by the allegations about her father, revealing she was sent a letter via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection seven years ago which made "troubling and disturbing allegations" about Mr Markle Snr. She was reportedly given assurances the allegations were being investigated.
But police watchdog, the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC), said earlier that it will investigate the Metropolitan Police's failure to pass on the letter to relevant overseas law enforcement agencies. The force said that in 2019 it received a letter in which the author suggested "they were writing to raise concerns relating to the security of the Duchess of Sussex".
Scotland Yard added the letter "did not actually contain any information specifically related to security matters, it did contain a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom". It was passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness, according to the Met Police.
After a review, the force said a voluntary referral was made to the IOPC "in respect of the decision not to inform other law enforcement agencies, and the decision to pass the letter to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex". The Duchess of Sussex's spokesperson declined to comment.
