November 2026: Thomas Markle Sr. is arrested and charged with one count of possession of child pornography.
On November 6, Markle was arrested and charged with one count of possession of child pornography.
The Department of Justice said Markle was arrested in Florida after suspected child sexual abuse material was found in two storage units in Los Angeles that he has rented since 2008.
“Mr. Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls,” Bill Essayli, the first assistant US Attorney for the Central District of California, said in a press release. “These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.”
Markle appeared in US District Court in Tampa on Friday, according to another statement shared by the Department of Justice and the US Attorney’s Office, Central District of California.
No plea was taken, and he was released on personal recognizance.
The court ruled that he would have to “submit to home detention and electronic monitoring” and could not travel outside the Central District of California and the Middle District of Florida. He will be arraigned at a later date, though that date has yet to be set, and was ordered to undergo a competency evaluation.
Outlets including The Times and The Telegraph reported in the days after his arrest that Ragland had assisted the FBI by identifying Markle in photos and that Meghan would also help authorities if needed.
Ragland and representatives for Meghan did not respond to a request for comment on Markle’s arrest and the ongoing investigation.
On November 10, Meghan made her first public appearance following her father’s arrest, opening the Lost Screen Memorial in Brussels with Harry.
The same day, a judge revoked Markle’s home detention, saying he “violated the conditions of his pretrial release” by tampering with his ankle monitor, according to court documents.
A lawyer for Markle did not respond to a request for comment on the judge’s order.
