KABUL (Pajhwok): Thomas Markle, father of Meghan Markle and father-in-law of Britain’s Prince Harry, has been arrested in the United States on a charge of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs allegedly depicting himself with underage girls, Reuters reported.
Markle, 82, was arrested by federal agents in Florida on Friday, November 6, according to the report.
The arrest followed an FBI investigation into two storage units in the Los Angeles area that Markle had rented since 2008. Agents searched the units last week after obtaining judicial warrants.
In a criminal complaint filed at a US federal court in Los Angeles on Thursday, Markle was charged with one count of possession of child pornography.
According to the complaint, agents seized approximately 78 items from the storage units, including slides, 35mm film negatives and books containing suspected child sexual abuse material.
An affidavit filed with the complaint stated that at least two images showed a man identified by a witness as Markle with a nude pre-pubescent girl.
The US Department of Justice said that, if convicted, Markle could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
Markle made his initial appearance before a magistrate judge in Tampa, Florida. He was released pending trial under conditions including home detention and electronic monitoring.
No plea was entered during the court hearing, Reuters reported.
It remains unclear when Markle will be transferred to California to face the charge.
Markle had previously denied the allegations, describing them as untrue and “sick lies”, according to Reuters.
It is worth noting that the Associated Press reported on January 6, 2023, that Prince Harry had said in his memoir, Spare, that he killed 25 Taliban fighters while serving as an Apache helicopter gunner in Afghanistan in 2012 and 2013.
Harry wrote that, during combat, he did not think of the 25 as people but regarded them as chess pieces being removed from the board.
His remarks drew criticism from various quarters, including the Taliban and some British military veterans.
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