Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was ordered back to jail on Tuesday after cutting off the electronic ankle monitor he had to wear as a condition of his release, federal prosecutors said.
US Magistrate Judge Lindsay Saxe Griffin ordered the 82-year-old returned to federal detention without bond at a hearing in Tampa, Florida, according to the US Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles, where the case is pending.
Markle was arrested on Friday and charged with one federal count of possessing child sexual abuse material. He has not entered a plea.
At his first court appearance on Friday, the judge allowed him to remain out of custody on condition that he submit to home detention and wear a monitoring device. Prosecutors asked on Monday for that release to be revoked after he cut the bracelet off overnight. Federal authorities said he removed the device at around 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday.
Griffin also ordered Markle to undergo a psychiatric evaluation to determine whether he is mentally competent to stand trial.
Markle had been living at an assisted living facility in Lakeland, Florida, near Tampa.
Source: Reuters
