Thomas Markle Jailed After Cutting Off Ankle Monitor
Thomas Markle, the 82-year-old estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was ordered back into federal custody without bond on Tuesday after prosecutors said he cut off the electronic ankle monitor he was required to wear while awaiting trial on a federal child sexual abuse material charge.
United States Magistrate Judge Lindsay Griffin found that Markle had violated the terms of his pretrial release at a hearing in Tampa, Florida, and ordered him detained, court records showed. Prosecutors said he removed the device at about 1:45 a.m. on Tuesday and was arrested shortly afterwards. Reuters reported that the judge ruled Markle must remain in custody.
“Release conditions are court orders, not suggestions,” First Assistant US Attorney Bill Essayli wrote, adding that prosecutors would ask the court to revoke his release and detain him pending trial.
A release that lasted four days
Markle was first arrested on 6 November after being charged in federal court with a single count of possessing child sexual abuse material. He was initially allowed to remain out of custody under home detention, with electronic monitoring fitted to his remaining leg after an amputation in the Philippines.
He was released into the care of his daughter Samantha Markle after the assisted living facility where he had been living declined to take him back. In her written order, Judge Griffin described his housing situation as “untenable” and said suitable accommodation was unavailable.
Markle denied violating his release conditions during the hearing, according to court minutes obtained by USA Today. CBS News reported that he had been allowed to remain out of custody while awaiting trial.
The charge and the case ahead
FBI agents seized about 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books containing suspected child sexual abuse material, from two storage units in the Los Angeles area that Markle had rented since 2008, according to the Justice Department.
The possession charge carries a statutory maximum of 20 years in prison if he is convicted. No plea has yet been taken, and Markle has previously denied the allegations.
A court-ordered psychiatric assessment of his competency to stand trial is pending, with a report due by 20 November. The case was filed in the Central District of California, and he is expected to be transferred there as it proceeds.
Tampa has no federal detention facility, so he is being held in the Pinellas County Jail in Clearwater. The sheriff’s office released a booking photograph after his return to custody on Tuesday evening.
What the detention order does — and does not — decide
The detention order concerns pretrial release only. It is not a finding of guilt on the underlying charge, which remains unproven and will be tested in court. The Tampa hearing is the latest high-profile case to pass through Florida’s federal courts this week.
Markle is the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, and the father-in-law of Prince Harry.
