The 82-year-old estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, cut an electronic monitoring device off his ankle just days after his arrest for keeping child sexual abuse material in storage units in California, authorities said.
Thomas Markle is in custody awaiting a hearing in federal court in Tampa, Florida, First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli said.
He was arrested shortly after he cut off the ankle bracelet at 1.45am (local time).
Markle’s arrest followed the seizure of approximately 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books that contained suspected child sexual abuse images in storage in the Los Angeles area, Essayli said.
During his arrest last week, he was taken from a senior care centre in Lakeland by ambulance. Hours later, a judge allowed Markle to be released on the condition that he be electronically monitored, which typically means wearing an ankle tether.
The judge also ordered a mental competency exam and a report by November 20.
Meghan recently said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father’s former home. She also revealed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about him had been sent to police in London in 2019.
“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” Meghan said of the letter. “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.”
Thomas Markle was living in the Philippines this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated. That forced him to return to the US.
His arrest followed reports by The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, that Meghan’s half-brother found a collection of child sexual abuse images while clearing out their father’s home in the Philippines. That discovery led to information about two US storage units in California, which Markle had rented since 2008.
Meghan makes first appearance since father's arrest
Prince Harry urged tech companies to be more transparent about issues involving children as he and his wife, Meghan Markle, made their first public appearance on Wednesday since her father’s arrest.
Harry spoke at the European Parliament in Brussels during the opening of a memorial to children who have died as the result of harm suffered on social media. The Lost Screen Memorial features replicas of oversized smartphones with the photo of a deceased child on each home screen.
Meghan was originally scheduled to speak alongside Harry but withdrew because she was not "strong enough emotionally," a person familiar with her reasoning said. She still accompanied her husband to the event.
Harry appeared emotional during his speech as he urged social media companies to avoid showing children content they would not show their own children. He also called on the companies to be more transparent and helpful to parents, particularly those seeking access to their children’s devices and social media accounts to understand what happened to them online.
"For many parents, even though their child killed themselves, they’ve had to wait years – in some instances, eight years – to get access to their child’s phone," Harry said. "Because of the company's privacy policies, the parents were blocked from finding out how their child died. That cannot be right."
The morning's headlines in 90 seconds including David Walliams sexual misconduct allegations, and a massive 70 car pileup on a Bulgarian motorway. (Source: 1News)
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