Thomas Markle — father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex — cuts off ankle monitor after child porn arrest: DOJ

Thomas Markle — the 82-year-old estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex — cut off his ankle monitor just days after his child porn arrest, the Department of Justice told the Associated Press Tuesday.Markle was in custody awaiting a hearing in federal court in Tampa, Florida, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli told the AP.'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.'Markle was arrested shortly after he cut the electronic monitoring device off his ankle at 1:45 a.m., Essayli added to the outlet.Markle previously was arrested Friday after the seizure of about 78 items — including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected child sexual abuse images — that were in storage in the Los Angeles area, Essayli told the AP.Amid his Friday arrest, the AP said Markle was taken from a senior care center in Lakeland by ambulance. Hours later a judge allowed Markle's release on the condition that he stay on electronic monitoring, the outlet said, which usually means wearing an ankle tether.The judge also ordered a mental competency exam and a report by Nov. 20, the AP said."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," Essayli noted on X.RELATED: The British are leaving! Harry and Meghan retreat after churning out box-office poison Markle's daughter, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018, the AP said, adding that Meghan is an American citizen and actor who starred in the U.S. television drama “Suits.”Meghan recently said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father’s former home, the outlet said. She also disclosed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about her father had been sent to police in London in 2019, the AP added.“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” Meghan said of the letter, according to the outlet. “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.”Thomas Markle was living in the Philippines this year when he suffered a stroke, after which his left leg was amputated, the AP said, adding that those circumstances forced him to return to the U.S.Markle's arrest took place on the heels of reports by The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, that Meghan’s half brother found a collection of child sexual abuse images while clearing out their father’s home in the Philippines, the AP reported. That discovery led to information about two U.S. storage units in California, which Markle had rented since 2008, the outlet added.Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!