Meghan Markle’s Dad Thomas Jailed After Cutting Ankle Monitor
A federal magistrate judge in Tampa ordered Thomas Markle, father of Meghan Markle, jailed without bond after he cut off his ankle bracelet. He faces a child pornography possession charge and denies the claims. A congresswoman has called for the death penalty.
A federal judge in Tampa, Florida, ordered Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan Markle, jailed without bond after he cut off his ankle monitor. Meghan Markle's dad Thomas was already awaiting a federal court hearing on a child pornography charge. He has denied the claims.
A Department of Justice spokesperson described the hearing in a statement. "U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsay Saxe Griffin of the Middle District of Florida ordered Thomas Wayne Markle detained (jailed without bond)," it read.
The statement said Markle cut off his ankle bracelet at 1:45 a.m. EST on the day of the hearing. Federal law enforcement arrested him later that day. "Markle is in federal custody," it added.
The underlying charge
Markle has been charged with one count of possession of child pornography. Prosecutors say he kept child sexual abuse material in storage containers for nearly two decades.
He was first arrested on Friday, November 6. His son, Thomas Markle Jr., found "hundreds, if not thousands" of images and contacted police, according to the account of the case. Markle was released shortly afterward.
Call for the death penalty
Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna of the U.S. House of Representatives has called for Markle to receive the death penalty. "I am calling for Thomas Markle to receive the Death Penalty," she wrote on X.
Luna said agents seized items from his Los Angeles storage units. She described them as film negatives showing a man a longtime witness identified as Markle with a nude prepubescent girl, plus other images of him with children in various stages of undress. "He is a sick human," she concluded.
Florida does administer the death penalty. It is reserved for specific capital felonies and, in practice, typically applies to people convicted of first-degree murder. Markle faces a possession charge. Luna's claims are her own description of the evidence, and Markle has denied the allegations.
Meghan Markle's earlier statement
Meghan Markle commented when the allegations surfaced. She said she was "deeply distressed" and that her thoughts were with any children who may have been harmed.
She said a letter sent to the Metropolitan Police and Royalty and Specialist Protection in 2018 was later shared with her. It made "troubling and disturbing allegations" against her father, and she said she was given assurances they were being investigated.
She said any distance from her father, and her choice not to let him have contact with her children, had one purpose: "to protect them." She added: "My sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children."
