Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, cut off his ankle monitor, DOJ says

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TAMPA: 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 Tuesday (Nov 10).

Thomas Markle was 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 (2:45pm, Singapore time), Essayli said.

Markle’s arrest on Friday 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 Nov 20.

His daughter, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018. They have two children, Prince Archie and Princess Lilibet. She is an American citizen and actor who starred in the US television drama Suits.

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.”

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