Thomas Markle Sr. arrested and charged in U.S. case

Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida on November 6 and charged with possessing child sexual abuse material, federal officials said. The charge alleges that images were kept in storage units in California; Markle has denied possessing such material, and the allegations have not been established in court. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said federal agents searched two storage units in the Los Angeles area and seized about 78 suspected items, including slides, film negatives and books. Essayli said Markle had rented the units since 2008. The arrest location was reported as outside Tampa by people familiar with the investigation who were not authorized to speak publicly. The U.S. investigation followed reports that Markle’s son, Thomas Markle Jr., found suspected images in boxes at his father’s former home in Cebu, Philippines. Markle Jr. told authorities about the discovery, according to reports. He told The Sun that he found hundreds or possibly thousands of images and contacted police in the Philippines and the FBI. Philippine National Police officials said an initial examination of devices identified...