Meghan Markle’s dad charged with child sexual abuse material

NewsThomas Markle Sr., father of Dutchess Meghan, whose brother says he found child sexual abuse images in their father's former home.File photoFederal agents in Florida arrested Meghan Markle’s father, Thomas Markle, on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material in storage units in California, authorities said.The 82-year-old father of the “Duchess of Sussex” allegedly kept “sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two Los Angeles-area storage units he rented for nearly two decades,” the Department of Justice announced Friday.Federal agents searched two storage units in the Los Angeles area and “seized approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books” that contained suspected child sexual abuse images, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said.According to CNN, Thomas Markle is expected to make an initial appearance in federal court Friday. As of the time of this posting, a plea has not been entered.Markle, per the report, been estranged from Meghan and did not attend her wedding to Britain’s Prince Harry in 2018.In October, the American-born duchess said she was “deeply distressed” by a report that her father had a trove of images depicting child sex abuse.The son of Thomas Markle told Britain’s The Sun newspaper he had uncovered a stash of indecent images of underage children in storage boxes and on computer hard drives at his father’s house in the Philippines and reported him to authorities in that country.In October, Thomas Markle Sr. denied the allegations in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper.“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. The elder Markle also said the computer equipment hadn’t been in his possession since he left Mexico with his son Thomas Markle Jr. in 2025.Mark Heim is a senior writer who provides sports, news and trending content. He co-hosts a daily sports radio show on WNSP-FM 105.5 in Mobile. Heim has been recognized with awards for his writing, headlines and...