Meghan Markle’s dad was arrested on Friday morning and charged with possession of child pornography.
Thomas Markle, 82, was arrested in Lakeland, Florida, after law enforcement officials said they discovered he was keeping explicit photos of prepubescent girls in storage units in Los Angeles. If convicted, Markle faces up to 20 years in federal prison.
Criminal defense attorney Josh Ritter said in an interview that the nature of the alleged images could lead to additional charges. “He’s looking at spending the rest of his life in prison if this is true.”
The New York Times reported that the FBI seized 78 items from two different storage units, including slides, film negatives, and books containing suspected child sexual abuse material. According to the Justice Department, an affidavit describes two images of an adult man identified by a witness as Markle with a nude prepubescent girl. A third image depicts a nude prepubescent girl in what appears to be a motel room in the Philippines.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson ordered Thomas Markle to be released “on personal recognizance” and placed under home detention and electronic monitoring. Markle is restricted to travel within the...