Meghan Markle‘s father, Thomas Markle, has been arrested in Florida.
Federal prosecutors charged Markle Sr. with possession of child pornography in a criminal complaint filed Nov. 5.
According to the 14-page complaint obtained by Fox News Digital, FBI agents searched two storage units registered to Markle and seized approximately 78 items, including film negatives, slides and books containing suspected child sexual abuse material. Investigators say Markle had rented the units since 2008 and continued paying for them through October 2026.
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Agents identified approximately 18 suspected illegal images among film negatives recovered from one unit. Investigators also uncovered a potential connection to the Philippines, identifying a hotel called Anahaw Lodge in photographs recovered during the investigation.
The Sun previously reported that Meghan’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., recently found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images in boxes at his father’s former home in the Philippine city of Cebu when he was clearing out the property. Markle Jr. told the newspaper that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the U.S.
Meghan condemned the alleged abuse and shed new light on her decision to cut ties with her father.
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“I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed,” she said in a statement previously shared with Fox News Digital.
WATCH: MEGHAN MARKLE’S FATHER ARRESTED IN FLORIDA OVER CHILD PORN
“In 2018, a letter was sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection. That letter was subsequently shared with me. It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated.”
“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.
“I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families,” the statement continued.
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“Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children,” the statement concluded.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.