Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested in Florida on Friday in connection with allegations that he possessed child sexual abuse materials in storage units in California, the Department of Justice announced. The announcement came after three sources familiar with the matter confirmed the arrest to CBS News. The case remains sealed, a source added. The Justice Department said Markle was arrested for allegedly storing child sexual abuse material, including sexually explicit photographs of himself with prepubescent girls, in two Los Angeles-area storage units that he rented for nearly two decades. Markle is scheduled to initially appear in court on Friday in Tampa, Florida. It was not immediately known if he has an attorney who can respond to the allegations. “These allegations are extremely serious and we will prosecute Mr. Markle to the fullest extent of federal law,” Bill Essayli, first assistant US attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement. The Daily Mail, a British tabloid, was the first to report Markle’s arrest. Last month, it was reported that Markle was under investigation by Philippine authorities for alleged possession of child sexual abuse materials. Markle has denied the allegations against her, calling them “sick lies.” “I’ve never downloaded anything like that in my life,” he told the Daily Mail. Thomas Markle Sr. is seen on August 10, 2018 in San Diego, California. MEGA/GC Images/Getty Images A spokesperson for the Philippine National Police told CBS News in a statement that they launched an investigation after her son, Thomas Markle Jr., handed over Markle’s personal items to authorities. Markle Jr. told the Sun tabloid last month that he reported the images to police in the Philippines and contacted the FBI. “I have supported him, cared for him and helped him for years, but that ends now,” Markle Jr. told The Sun. “I will not speak to my father again unless I am called to testify against him.” The Daily Mail reported last week that it alerted the FBI to a stash of child pornography found inside a storage unit Markle Sr. had rented near his former home in Rosarito, Mexico. Mexican authorities confiscated a storage unit with Thomas Markle’s belongings during a search for alleged child sexual abuse material, in Baja Malibú, outside Tijuana, Mexico, on November 1, 2026. Guillermo Arias /AFP via Getty Images In a statement on Friday, the Attorney General’s Office for the State of Baja California in Mexico confirmed to CBS News that a search was conducted on October 29 after a report through the hotline 911. “During the operation, three old magazines and VHS tapes containing child pornography were discovered,” the office said in its statement. “The evidence and associated files were sent to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), which will be in charge of monitoring the case.” The Justice Department’s claims against Markle Sr. According to an affidavit in the complaint filed in federal court, the investigation in the Philippines led authorities to investigate two storage units registered to Markle Sr. in the Los Angeles area that he had rented since 2008, and the most recent payments for both were made last month via automatic payment. Inside the units, agents with the FBI confiscated 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books containing suspected child sexual abuse materials. In one of the units, agents found at least 18 images that appear to constitute child pornography. Two of the images found allegedly show an adult man, whom a witness identified as Markle Sr., with a naked prepubescent girl, according to the affidavit. A third image allegedly shows a naked prepubescent girl in a room that appears to be part of a motel chain in the Philippines. Other photos allegedly show Markle Sr. with children in various states of undress, according to the affidavit. “Mr. Markle allegedly targeted innocent children and sought to steal their innocence through his criminal actions,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement, adding: “This FBI will use every resource at our disposal to protect innocent children; any predator who targets children will have no safe haven in this country or anywhere they try to hide.” If convicted, Markle Sr. would face a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in federal prison. became public, Meghan, who recently returned to Britain with her husband Prince Harry and their children, said in a statement to CBS News that she was aware of the allegations against him since 2018 and that the allegations were shared with UK authorities at the time. She said it was based on that information that she and Harry decided to cut off their father’s contact with their children. our children, it was for one reason: to protect them,” he said. Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, on Oct. 15, 2026, in Nottingham, England. Photo by Karwai Tang/WireImage Meghan also confronted her father last year over allegations of child sexual abuse leveled against him, according to CBS News partner BBC News. The video that British tabloid Daily Mail says it obtained exclusively shows Markle accepting a letter sent by her daughter in her bedroom. hospital in the US in December 2025. According to the BBC, in that letter, Meghan wrote that she and authorities “knew that he had abused young girls,” adding that he would never meet her and Harry’s children, Archie and Lilibet. Meghan will not comment on the arrest at this time, sources say Jacob Rosen, Tucker Reals and Emmet Lyons contributed to this report. 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