Meghan Markle's estranged father Thomas Markle arrested on federal child abuse charges

Meghan Markle's father arrested and charged with possessing child sexual abuse materials. All right, he was taken into custody at a senior care center in Florida. Fox 5's Linda Schmidt, live in the newsroom. Linda. First of all, good evening to both of you. And the charge we're talking about here tonight is connected to two storage units rented by Thomas Markle Sr. for about 20 years in the Los Angeles area. That is according to authorities. The U.S. Attorney's Office in L.A. says it seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives, and books. books containing suspected child sexual abuse images, some photographs allegedly showing him with nude little girls. Federal agents arresting Thomas Markle Sr. this morning at this senior care facility in Florida near Tampa, where he had been recovering following a stroke and having his left leg amputated earlier this year. Now, the video you're looking at right now of Markle, this is file footage. There is no fresh video of him from today. The 82-year-old estranged father of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, appeared in federal court today in Tampa. His lawyer is appointed by the court. The U.S. Attorney's Office Office in L.A. says there is no evidence of victims in the United States, but the investigation is not over. His arrest follows reports by a British tabloid newspaper that his son found, quote, hundreds, if not thousands, of child sex abuse images in boxes when he was cleaning out his father's home in the Philippines, and that he immediately contacted the authorities, including the FBI. Now again, Meghan Markle is estranged from her father. broke in the UK. She issued a statement saying troubling allegations about her father had been sent to police in London back in 2019. And she was given assurances those allegations were being investigated. He moved quickly to arrest him. We just charge a single complaint, single count, but there are more charges will be added. All right, he is with the U.S. Attorney's Office in L.A. Thomas Markle has denied the accusations from his son. No word on the charges from today. And so far, there hasn't been any comment from Meghan Markle regarding today's charges against her estranged father. Steve and Natasha, back upstairs to you. Very well. All right, thanks, Linda.