US court jails Meghan's father after he cut off ankle monitor

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - TAMPA — The estranged father of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, has been jailed after US authorities said he cut an electronic monitoring device off his ankle, just days after he was charged with possession of child abuse material.

Thomas Markle, 82, was arrested and appeared in federal court in Tampa, Florida, after authorities learned he had cut off the device at 1:45 a.m., First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said.

“Release conditions are court orders, not suggestions,” Essayli said.

Markle’s arrest on Friday in Lakeland, Florida, followed the seizure of approximately 78 items from storage units in the Los Angeles area, including slides, film negatives and books that contained suspected child sexual abuse images, said Essayli, a federal prosecutor in California.

Markle was living in a senior care center at the time. But US Magistrate Judge Lindsay Griffin agreed Tuesday that Markle now must be kept in custody. Authorities have not said where he will be held while his case remains in court ahead of a likely transfer to California.

In her written order, Griffin noted Markle’s “housing situation” had become “untenable,” but did not elaborate. Defense attorney Mary Claire Wolf wanted to keep him out of custody but has not found a suitable place for Markle to stay, according to a hearing summary.

Essayli told The Associated Press he didn’t know why the ankle device was removed. It also wasn’t clear where it occurred. An email and phone message seeking comment from Wolf were not immediately returned.

He had a stroke earlier this year while living in the Philippines and had to have his left leg amputated. That forced him to return to the U.S.

The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, reported 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 the two US storage units in California, which Markle had rented since 2008.

Markle’s daughter, Meghan, married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018.

She 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.”