Thomas Markle cut an electronic monitoring device off his ankle at 1:45 a.m., just days after his arrest for keeping child sexual abuse material in storage units, authorities said on Tuesday, The Guardian reported.
According to first assistant US attorney Bill Essayli, the estranged 82-year-old father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was being held while waiting for a court appearance in federal court located in Tampa, Florida.
Pretrial Release Revoked
Essayli stated that Markle was taken into custody on Friday following the discovery of roughly 78 items in a Los Angeles-area storage space, which included books, film negatives, and slides suspected of containing child sexual abuse images.
Four days ago, a federal judge allowed Mr. Markle to remain out of custody pending trial. He was ordered to wear a location monitoring device. He allegedly cut the bracelet off at 1:45 a.m. last night. Release conditions are court orders, not suggestions. We are asking the court… https://t.co/rjNknXuSA9
During his arrest last week, he was taken from a senior care center in Lakeland by ambulance. Hours later, a judge allowed Markle to be released on the condition that he be electronically monitored.
The judge also ordered a mental competency exam and a report by Nov. 20.
A spokesperson for the US Attorney’s office in Florida told Page Six that his pretrial release was revoked and he was detained. A spokesperson for the US Marshals Service told the Daily Mail they did not know Markle Sr.’s whereabouts, noting that the adult living facility would not take him back, so he was released to the custody of his other daughter, Samantha Markle, who lives in Lakeland.
Meghan Addresses Allegations Regarding Her Father
Deep concern was recently expressed by Meghan regarding claims that suspected child sexual abuse images had been discovered at the former residence of her father. Additionally, she disclosed that a 2019 communication featuring worrisome allegations about him had been delivered to law enforcement in London.
“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” Meghan said of the letter, according to The Guardian. “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.”
After suffering a stroke and undergoing the amputation of his left leg in the Philippines earlier this year, Thomas Markle was compelled to move back to the United States.
His apprehension came on the heels of reports from The Sun indicating that Meghan’s half brother had stumbled upon child sexual abuse imagery while cleaning out their father’s Philippine residence. That discovery led to information about two US storage units in California that Markle had rented since 2008.
Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, cut off his ankle monitor after his arrest for having child sexual abuse material, DOJ says. https://t.co/CvbD52aWqZ
