Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, arrested for child pornography possession

​Thomas Markle, father of Prince Harry's wife Meghan Markle, ​has been arrested for keeping child pornography, ‌including ​photographs of himself with underage girls, in rented storage units in California, US law enforcement authorities said on Friday. FBI Director Kash Patel said federal agents had arrested Markle ‌in Florida.

"Mr. Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions," he said. "This FBI will use every single resource at our disposal to protect innocent kids — any predator who targets children will have zero safe ‌haven in this country or anywhere they try to hide." Markle, 82, is charged with one count of possession ‌of child pornography, the US Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said in a statement. He is expected to appear in court in Tampa on Friday.

“Mr. Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls,” First Assistant United States Attorney ⁠Bill ​Essayli said. “These allegations are extremely serious, ⁠and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.” The Justice Department said Markle kept the material in two Los Angeles-area ⁠storage units he rented for nearly two decades.

Agents seized approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books containing child pornography, ​the department said. An affidavit filed with the complaint that led to the arrest stated that two of the ⁠images inside the units showed a man identified by a witness as Markle with a nude underage girl. A spokesperson for Meghan Markle did not ⁠immediately respond ​to a request for comment.

Authorities in the Philippines, where Thomas Markle had previously lived for some time, began investigating him last month over allegations he possessed child sexual abuse images. British police last month said they would refer ⁠allegations about him to overseas law enforcement agencies after finding that claims had not been passed to other authorities when ⁠they were first received. He has ⁠denied the accusations, telling the Daily Mail they were untrue and "sick lies."

Meghan Markle, an American who married King Charles' younger son in 2018, has said she was "deeply distressed" over ‌the allegations.