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

Thomas Markle, 82, the estranged father of Meghan Markle, was arrested in Florida on Friday over allegations of possessing child sexual abuse images. The US Attorney's office in Tampa confirmed that Mr Markle faces a single charge of possession of child pornography. Prosecutors allege that he kept the suspected CSAM in two storage units located in the Los Angeles area for nearly two decades.

Inside these units, FBI agents seized around 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books containing the alleged CSAM. In addition to Florida, the justice department stated that similar images have been found at Markle's former residence in the Philippines and a storage unit in Mexico. If convicted, Mr Markle could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.

Meghan Markle, who reportedly blocked contact between her father and her children due to previous distressing allegations, described the new accusations as "deeply distressing."