Meghan Markle's father arrested in Florida over child abuse images

Thomas Markle Sr, the 82-year-old father of the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida on Friday and charged with possessing child abuse material allegedly stored in two Los Angeles storage units.

The Department of Justice said the units held "sexually explicit photographs" of Markle with prepubescent girls. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

Agents surrounded the Maravida Senior Living care home in Lakeland shortly after 9am and led the wheelchair-using Markle out in handcuffs. He entered no plea at an initial hearing that afternoon and was released on bond to house arrest at the home.

Judge Lindsay Griffin told the court the criminal complaint alleges Markle appears in two of the images. Asked whether he understood, he answered "yes" in a low voice.

"Mr Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions," FBI Director Kash Patel said. Patel added that agents "moved quickly, identified and located the explicit material, and arrested Mr Markle in Florida."

Agents seized about 78 items from the two units, according to court documents, including slides, film negatives and books containing suspected child pornography. The complaint says Markle has rented the units since 2008 and made an autopay payment as recently as last month.

Negatives developed by investigators appear to show Markle abusing young girls at a motel in the Philippines, according to court papers, in images that seem to date back several decades. Other photographs allegedly show him with children in various stages of undress at what the FBI believes is the Anahaw Lodge motel.

The inquiry began in October, the Justice Department said, when an individual signed an affidavit stating they had found child abuse material among Markle's possessions in the Philippines. A second person then told investigators he had rented a unit near Los Angeles, and information from the first led officers to another.

Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr, 60, allegedly discovered one cache at the home the two once shared in Cebu. He claims he later told the FBI where the Los Angeles units were.

Mexican authorities moved first. Guardia Nacional officers sealed a unit at Baja Storage in Rosarito, about 10 miles south of the US border, on 1 November, after state prosecutors obtained a warrant at a closed-door hearing before Judge Estefany Moreno Gutierrez on 30 October.

The warrant authorised a search for "evidence consisting of child sexual abuse material" and for evidence of "the alleged commission of the crime of human trafficking in its aggravated form." A source said officers itemised a computer, thumb drives, VHS tapes and a stack of magazines before closing the unit.

Photographs from inside also showed a paper plate marked "DARK WEB" in red ink beside several web addresses. It is not known what the hard drives and video tapes in the unit contain.

Markle moved to Rosarito in 2011, relocated to the Philippines in early 2025 and settled in Florida this spring. His unit sat roughly three miles from his former Mexican home.

Detectives in Cebu have separately said they found "explicit content" on digital devices, including footage of "male and female minors". Markle has dismissed the reports as "sick lies" manufactured by his son.

He admits paying for sex in the Philippines but insists it never involved anyone under 18. "I never had sex with anyone under the age of 18," he told the Daily Mail last week.

The Duchess said in an October statement that she was "deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours". She added that her "thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed."

After the charges, a close friend of the Duchess told a British tabloid that it was "her sincere hope that a full and thorough investigation will now help deliver justice for the victims." Her representative had not responded to requests for comment on Friday.

Markle has not entered a plea and no date has been given for his next hearing. Police in the Philippines are said to be "very close" to bringing formal charges of their own.