Thomas Markle, the father of the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, has been returned to federal custody in Florida after allegedly removing an electronic monitoring bracelet, imposed as a condition of his release pending trial.
The 82-year-old appeared before a federal judge in Tampa, Florida, on Tuesday, who ruled to deny him bail. According to court documents, Markle had the monitoring device removed in the early hours of the same morning.
Federal Judge Lindsay S. Griffin found that he had violated the conditions of his pretrial release and ordered his return to custody.
In her ruling, the judge called Markle's housing situation inappropriate, arguing that there was no combination of conditions that could guarantee the safety of others and his appearance in court.
She also ordered a medical evaluation for the 82-year-old, requesting that he be given all necessary medications prescribed by the doctor.
"The conditions of release are court orders, not suggestions," said the federal prosecutor for Central California, Bill Essayli, in a post on social media, adding that authorities will follow the case until the end of legal proceedings.
Thomas Markle was arrested last week after the FBI conducted searches at several storage facilities in Los Angeles, registered in his name and rented since 2008.
According to the US Department of Justice, agents seized about 78 items, including film negatives, slides and books, which allegedly contained images of child sexual abuse.
Witnesses are believed to have positively identified Markle in two of the seized images. According to investigative documents, the person depicted in them appears to be in their 30s or 40s, suggesting the materials could be related to events that took place decades ago.
Markle is accused of a criminal offense, possession of indecent images of children. He has denied the charges, calling them "disgusting lies."
Meghan Markle's father appeared in court after his first arrest, where he was given several conditions for his release pending trial, including being under house arrest and wearing an electronic monitoring device.
Meanwhile, the relationship between him and his daughter has been severed since 2018. According to the BBC, Meghan had cut off contact with him even further last year, after communicating that she and the authorities were aware of suspicions regarding the abuse of underage girls.
In a previous statement, the Duchess confirmed the existence of a letter she had sent to her father, expressing her deep concern for the children who may have been harmed. She also made it clear that she did not want her father to have contact with her children.
