Meghan Markle’s father Thomas arrested on suspicion of child sex offences

Thomas Markle has been arrested in the United States on suspicion of possessing child sexual abuse material, a U.S. prosecutor has announced.The Duchess of Sussex’s father, 82, was reportedly arrested at the Maravida Senior Living care home in Lakeland near Tampa, Florida, having returned to the state to recuperate from a recent medical treatment and was pictured in a wheelchair being led away by FBI agents.First Assistant U.S. Attorney for California Bill Essayli announced Mr Markle Snr’s arrest and posted a copy of the criminal complaint leveled against him on X, noting that the felony with which he has been charged carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.Mr Markle Snr was reported to police in the Philippines and to the FBI last month by his son, Thomas Markle Jnr, 60, who handed over a haul of alleged child abuse images he found in his father’s belongings in Cebu City, where an investigation is underway.A second hoard was reportedly discovered last week in a storage unit Mr Markle Snr is said to have rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico, during a raid by Mexican police.Thomas Markle Sr has been arrested by the FBI for allegedly possessing child pornography, according to reports (ITV/GMB)Mr Markle Snr, a a retired television lighting and photography director, has admitted to paying for sex in the Philippines but denied ever possessing child abuse imagery, calling the accusations by his son “sick lies.”Meghan was left “deeply distressed” at the allegations and revealed she was sent a letter via the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection seven years ago that made “troubling and disturbing allegations” about her father. She was given assurances these were being investigated, she said.The Metropolitan Police 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 doing so, sources said.The Independent reached out to the U.S. Department of Justice and the Metropolitan Police for comment. Buckingham Palace and the duchess have both declined to comment at this stage.The Duchess of Sussex was left ’deeply disturbed’ by the allegations against her father, she said last month (PA)The DOJ is expected to give a press conference at 11 a.m. ET (4 p.m. GMT), it is being reported.Addressing the allegations against her father, from whom she is estranged, the duchess said last month: “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.”“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children.”On Thursday, the Philippines’ interior secretary, Jonvic Remulla, said that Mr Markle Jnr, the duchess’s half-brother, had been named as a person of interest in its investigation into his father.“There are indications suggesting that the son may also be involved in the crime,” he said at a press conference in Manila.“But only as a person of interest so far, he is not yet treated as a suspect. We will know in the next few days.”According to Remulla, more than 7,000 photos and one video – all of underage males and females of Asian, Latin and European descent, with some as young as 10 and 11 – were uncovered among Mr Markle Snr’s possessions.He described the images as “the most deplorable displays of impunity towards sexual activity that I have ever seen”.More follows...