Meghan Markle's Estranged Father Thomas Markle Sr. Under Probe After Child Pornography Material Found At His Home

Meghan Markle's estranged father, Thomas Markle Sr., is being investigated after alleged child sex abuse content was found in his Philippines home. The 82-year-old was reported to local police by his own son, Thomas Markle Jr., who discovered “hundreds, if not thousands,” of disturbing images in storage boxes, according to a report in People.

Thomas Jr. allegedly found videos of girls 'no older than 10 or 11 years old' engaged in sexual acts, as well as a 15-minute video of naked girls on his father's old cellphone. The Philippine government's Inter-Agency Council Against trafficking has created a task force to investigate the case. The authorities are now preparing to seize the evidence from Markle Sr.'s Cebu residence.

While local authorities are involved, Thomas Jr. also contacted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the US. The FBI is poised to open its own investigation against Markle Sr., a Florida resident. The agency has requested contact information for investigators in the Philippines, according to a report in the New York Post.

“An FBI agent has already requested the contact details of investigators leading the case in the Philippines,” a source close to the case in Cebu told the publication.

“There is a strong precedent for cases in circumstances like this to be investigated by the FBI,” the source said.

Thomas Jr., who has been caring for his father amid his ongoing health issues, including his 2022 stroke, said he will never speak to him in the aftermath of the revelation.

“I won't speak to my father ever again unless I'm called to give evidence against him," he said.

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Meghan has been estranged from her father since she wed Prince Harry in 2018. Even during the build-up to the grand wedding, Markle Sr. remained suspiciously out of the festivities. He was expected to walk her down the aisle but ultimately skipped the ceremony following a controversy involving staged paparazzi photos and reported health problems.

Since then, the father-daughter duo has remained estranged. He has never met his son-in-law, Prince Harry. Meghan was born during Markle Sr.'s marriage to his ex-wife, Doria Ragland.