WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Britain's Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, was arrested on Friday on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs of himself with naked underage girls, found in rented storage units in California.
FBI Director Kash Patel said the 82-year-old father-in-law of Prince Harry was taken into custody by federal agents in Florida, where according to the Daily Mail the elder Markle, who uses a wheelchair, was a nursing home patient.
"Mr. Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions," Patel said in a statement.
In a criminal complaint filed on Thursday in US District Court in Los Angeles, Markle was charged with one count of "possession of child pornography."
If convicted, Markle could face up to 20 years in prison, the Justice Department said.
Markle, a resident of Lakeland, Florida, made his initial court appearance before a US magistrate judge in nearby Tampa. The judge ordered him released to await trial on condition that he submit to home detention and electronic monitoring, the US Attorney's Office in Los Angeles said in a statement.
No plea was entered, and an arraignment is not expected for several weeks, according to the statement.
Markle's defense counsel was not immediately known, and it was not clear when he might be transferred to California to face the charge against him.
According to an FBI affidavit filed as part of the criminal complaint, Markle kept the sexually explicit material in question in two Los Angeles-area storage units he has rented since 2008, which agents searched last week after obtaining a warrant.
Agents seized approximately 78 items, including slides, 35mm film negatives, and books containing child sexual abuse images, according to the affidavit. The 13-page document stated that at least two of the frames on film negatives showed a man identified by a witness as Markle with a "nude pre-pubescent girl" in poses "designed to elicit a sexual response in the viewer." In one image, the man appeared to be fondling the girl's genitalia.
Buckingham Palace and a spokesperson for Meghan Markle did not respond to requests 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.
The FBI began its investigation of Markle in October, according to its affidavit, after hearing from a witness who said they had discovered suspected child abuse material among Markle's possessions in the Philippines. The FBI also spoke last month with a second witness, also unidentified in the affidavit, who said Markle rented at least one storage unit in California.
At least one of the photographs reviewed by the FBI shows Markle was staying at a hotel or motel in the Philippines, based on the logo seen on the pillows on the bed.
Markle denied the accusations of possessing child sexual abuse material when they initially came to light, telling the Daily Mail they were untrue and "sick lies."
Meghan Markle, an American actor who married King Charles' younger son in 2018, has said she was "deeply distressed" over the allegations.
