Thomas Markle Snr’s mugshot has been released for the first time after his bail was revoked over allegations he cut off his electronic monitoring bracelet. Meghan Markle’s father faces a child pornography charge and is now back in custody in the US.
Thomas Markle Snr’s police photograph has been made public for the first time after his arrest on a child pornography allegation. Meghan Markle’s father is currently being held in detention in the United States.
Mr Markle Sr was apprehended and charged with the offence last week. He was subsequently granted bail by a judge on Friday (November 6) – with stipulations including house arrest and the requirement to wear an electronic tracking device.
The court in Tampa, Florida, also imposed travel limitations.
However, Markle “allegedly cut the bracelet off at 1:45am last night”, first assistant US attorney Bill Essayli revealed on X on Wednesday. He continued: “Release conditions are court orders, not suggestions. 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.”
US Magistrate Judge Lindsay Saxe Griffin of the Middle District of Florida then ordered Markle to remain in custody. The judge stated “the defendant violated the conditions of his pretrial release”, confirming Markle’s “pretrial release is revoked, and he is detained pending the resolution of this case”, reports Sky News.
Markle Snr was taken into custody by FBI agents on Friday following their seizure of a collection of material from two Los Angeles storage facilities he had leased for almost 20 years. He faces one count of possession of child pornography.
He refutes the accusations, branding them “sick lies”. Markle Sr became the subject of an investigation after being reported to authorities in the Philippines and the FBI last month by his son, Thomas Markle Jr, who allegedly discovered illegal images amongst his father’s possessions in Cebu City.
Armed with warrants, FBI agents searched the properties registered to Markle Sr, which he had been renting since 2008, with his latest payments on both made last month via automatic payment.
During the search, officers confiscated approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books believed to contain suspected child sex abuse material. Two of the images purportedly show an adult man – whom a witness “positively identified” as Markle – with a nude young girl.
In one photograph, according to court documents, the man “appears to be in the age range of 30s to 40s”, indicating the alleged abuse may have occurred decades ago, considering Markle is now 82. A third image reportedly shows a nude young girl in what appears to be a room at a motel chain in the Philippines.
Additional photographs allegedly depict Markle with children in varying states of undress. Should he be found guilty, Markle would face a minimum of 20 years in federal prison.
Markle Sr, who was residing in a dementia care facility in the US, has acknowledged paying for sex in the Philippines but has denied ever possessing child abuse imagery.
Meghan Markle remained silent when approached by journalists on Tuesday, during her first public appearance following her father’s arrest. She attended the European Parliament to address the dangers posed to children online.
Meghan had been scheduled to deliver a speech on the matter, but decided against it once the allegations emerged. A source informed The Telegraph she “was not strong enough” to proceed.
The Duchess of Sussex was spotted consoling mother Sanda Spitaels in Brussels, whose teenage son Glenn tragically took his own life in 2017 after a nude image of him was shared online. Meghan is understood to be immersing herself in “work and family” as further developments regarding her father’s legal proceedings emerge.
The father and daughter have remained estranged for several years. Meghan has pledged he will never be introduced to her children with Prince Harry, Archie and Lilibet.