Meghan’s father appears in court charged with possessing child abuse material

Florida
The Duchess of Sussex’s father has appeared in court after being arrested and charged with allegedly possessing child sexual abuse images.
Thomas Markle, 82, was pictured in handcuffs in a wheelchair as FBI agents escorted him from a Florida retirement home.
He was transported by ambulance for a short court hearing in Tampa and charged with one count of “possession of child pornography”.
US Attorney Bill Essayli said agents had seized about 78 items including “slides, film negatives and books” in two Los Angeles storage units allegedly rented by Mr Markle.
The items found are said to include “sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls”.
“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” Mr Essayli said.
Authorities said Mr Markle had rented the two storage units since 2008.
He did not enter a plea at Friday’s hearing and was released back to a senior care facility with an electronic tag so his location can be monitored.
The judge also ordered a psychiatric examination to ensure he is able to understand the legal proceedings.
It comes just two weeks after Meghan’s half-brother Thomas Markle Jr said he had found “hundreds, if not thousands” of child abuse images while clearing out his father’s property in the Philippines and had reported him to authorities there, as well as in the US.
He also gave belongings allegedly containing the lewd images to Philippine authorities.
Police there found thousands of photographs and a video of child sexual abuse in phones, memory cards and other belongings discovered in Mr Markle’s former home in the central Philippines province of Cebu, officials have said.

‘Most deplorable’ images
Philippines Interior Secretary Jonvic Remulla described the images as “most deplorable,” but police said they do not know who owned, produced and distributed the obscene pictures.
Mr Remulla said: “We recovered 7,500 photos and one video of underage males and females of Asian, Latina and European descent.”
It was, he said, “the most deplorable displays of impunity towards sexual activity that I have ever seen”.
Thomas Markle Snr has called allegations against him “sick lies”.