LAKELAND, FL — Thomas Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was taken back into custody Tuesday after allegedly cutting off an electronic ankle monitor he was ordered to wear following his arrest last week in Lakeland.
Markle, 82, was arrested shortly after removing the monitoring device around 1:45 a.m., First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said. He appeared in federal court in Tampa on Tuesday, where a judge ordered him held in custody.
"Release conditions are court orders, not suggestions," Essayli said.
The judge cited concerns about Markle's housing situation when ordering him jailed.
Markle was initially arrested Nov. 6 at a senior care center in Lakeland on a federal charge of possessing child pornography. The charge stems from suspected child sexual abuse material allegedly found in two storage units in the Los Angeles area that Markle had rented since 2008.
FBI agents seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books containing suspected child sexual abuse material from the storage units, the U.S. Department of Justice said. The federal complaint alleges that some images depicted Markle with nude prepubescent girls.
Before returning to the United States, Markle had been living in the Philippines, where he suffered a stroke earlier this year and had his left leg amputated
The investigation reportedly began after Markle's son, Thomas Markle Jr., discovered suspected child sexual abuse images while clearing out his father's former home in the Philippines. That discovery led investigators to information about the California storage units, which Markle had rented for nearly two decades.
Markle was released following his initial court appearance under conditions that included home detention and electronic monitoring. The judge also ordered a mental competency examination, with a report due Nov. 20
He is charged with one count of possession of child pornography. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison, the U.S. DOJ said.
This article includes reporting by The Associated Press.
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