Meghan Markle’s father arrested in US over alleged child sex abuse photos

The estranged father of Britain's Prince Harry's wife, Meghan Markle, has been arrested in the United States on a charge of possession of child sexual abuse material.

The US Department of Justice on Friday announced that Thomas Markle Sr was arrested in Florida after law enforcement officers discovered "sexually explicit photographs" of him with prepubescent girls in two storage units, located in the Los Angeles area, that he rented for nearly two decades.

"Mr Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions", Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Kash Patel said on Thursday.

According to the Justice Department, authorities learned in October that an individual signed an affidavit stating they had discovered child sex abuse material among Markle's possessions in the Philippines.

Law enforcement interviewed a separate individual who told them the 82-year-old had rented a storage unit near Los Angeles since 2008. Information gathered from the first individual led to the discovery of a second unit.

After receiving warrants, the Justice Department said FBI agents searched the two units registered to Thomas. Inside, they found 78 items, including photos, film negatives and books that contained explicit imagery of him with underage girls.

The affidavit described three of those photographs. Two showed a man, who a witness identified as Thomas, with a nude prepubescent girl. The third photo shows a nude underage girl in what appeared to be a Philippine hotel room.

Officials, according to the affidavit, also found photos that appeared to show Thomas with "children in various stages of undress".

Thomas was living in the Philippines earlier this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated. That forced him to return to the US.

'Deeply distressed'

Meghan issued a statement to The New York Times in October, saying she first learned of the allegations against her father in 2018, when a letter detailing them was sent to the unit of London's Metropolitan Police that was handling her security then.

"I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours," the duchess of Sussex wrote to the Times in an apparent reference to reports by the Sun, a British tabloid, on the allegations. "My thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed."

"I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications' distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children was for one reason: to protect them," she added.

The arrest of Thomas comes as President Donald Trump's administration has been criticised for its handling of cases related to the abuse of children, particularly the release of files on the investigation into convicted sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Last year, King Charles stripped Prince Andrew of his princely title as he tried to shield the royal family from the scandal surrounding his brother's relationship with Epstein.

Meghan, Prince Harry and their two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet, relocated back to the United Kingdom in August.

The Associated Press tried to reach Meghan's representative on Friday but has not yet heard back.

Thomas Markle is expected to appear in a Florida court on Friday. If convicted, the Justice Department said he could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in a US federal prison.