The estranged father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has been jailed for allegedly cutting an electronic monitoring device from his ankle just days after being arrested over child sexual abuse material.
At a Federal Court hearing on Tuesday, local time, US magistrate Judge Lindsay Griffin ordered that Mr Markle must now be kept in custody.
Authorities have not said where Mr Markle will be held while his case remains in court ahead of a likely transfer to California.
US prosecutor Bill Essayli said Mr Markle was arrested shortly after he cut off his ankle bracelet in the early hours of Tuesday morning, local time, where he was living in a Florida senior care centre.
In her written order, Justice Griffin noted Mr Markle’s “housing situation” had become “untenable,” but did not elaborate.
On Friday, Mr Markle was charged by US authorities with possessing child sexual abuse material, alleging he had pictures of himself with prepubescent girls.
Mr Essayli said authorities seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books that contained suspected child sexual abuse images, in storage in the Los Angeles area.
Meghan Markle attended the unveiling of a memorial to protect children from online abuse in Switzerland in May. (Keystone via AP: Cyril Zingaro)
Hours later, a judge allowed Mr Markle to be released on the condition that he be electronically monitored, which typically means wearing an ankle tether.
“Release conditions are court orders, not suggestions,” Mr Essayli said.
Duchess distressed by allegations against father
Mr Markle’s daughter, Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, married Prince Harry at Windsor Castle in 2018, and the couple have two children.
Meghan recently said she was “deeply distressed” by allegations that a collection of child sexual abuse images had been found at her father’s former home.
Meghan Markle walked herself down the aisle at her wedding to Prince Harry, and was joined by King Charles halfway down. (Reuters: Danny Lawson)
She also revealed that a letter containing “troubling allegations” about him had been sent to police in London in 2019.
“It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father and I was given assurances that these were being investigated,” she said of the letter.
“I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications’ distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children was for one reason: to protect them.”
On Tuesday, the duchess appeared in public for the first time since her father was charged, keeping a low profile at an event at the EU parliament in Brussels about the dangers children face online.
The Duchess of Sussex listens to a mother, whose teenage son committed suicide in 2017 after a nude image of him was posted online. (AFP: Nicolas Tucat)
She and Prince Harry had been due to give a joint speech, but only the prince spoke at the opening of an installation honouring 50 children who died because of online abuse and exploitation, dubbed the Lost Screen Memorial.
She did not reply to a shouted question seeking a comment about her father.
Mr Markle was living in the Philippines this year when he suffered a stroke and had his left leg amputated.
That forced him to return to the US.
His arrest followed reports by The Sun, a British tabloid newspaper, that the duchess’s half-brother found a collection of child sexual abuse images while clearing out their father’s home in the Philippines.
That discovery led to information about two storage units in California, which Mr Markle had rented since 2008.
AP/AFP
Source: www.abc.net.au
