Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida on Friday on a federal charge of possessing child sexual abuse material, the Justice Department said.
Markle, 82, was taken into custody by FBI agents at Maravida Senior Living, a care facility in North Lakeland, Florida. He faces one count of possession of child pornography and was due to make his first appearance in federal court in Tampa on Friday.
According to the Justice Department, Markle kept sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls in two Los Angeles-area storage units he rented for nearly two decades. Agents searched the units under court warrants and seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books containing suspected child sexual abuse material.
If convicted, Markle faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, the department said.
Markle has denied the allegations, calling them “sick lies” in comments to the Daily Mail. The investigation began in October after an individual found suspected material among Markle’s possessions in the Philippines. His son, Thomas Markle Jr., turned boxes of material over to police there, according to reports.
Source: CNN
