PNP urges Markle’s victims to file raps
The Philippine National Police is investigating the extent of Thomas Markle’s alleged child sexual abuse activities in the Philippines, as it traces his local network and urges possible victims to file complaints.
Markle, the estranged father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, was arrested by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents early Friday at the retirement home where he resides in Lakeland, Florida, over alleged possession of images of sexual abuse, according to an Agence France-Presse report.
The photographs were first reported to have been found at Markle’s former home in the Philippines, and at a storage unit he rented in Mexico, the same report said.
Markle’s son, Thomas Jr., had discovered the pictures while sorting through boxes found in his father’s former residence in Cebu City, where he had been living until he returned to the United States early this year.
“We will pursue every lead, identify everyone involved, and make sure that no individual who preys on children or helps perpetrators evade accountability is beyond the reach of the law,” PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said in a statement on Sunday.
Principal suspect
He said they are seeking possible local accomplices of Markle not only to hold “the principal suspect accountable but also to dismantle the network that allows these crimes to happen.”
“We urge those who have been victimized by Markle to come forward and file complaints as we strengthen our prosecution against him,” the PNP chief added. He said their testimonies would boost the case against the American and identify other possible suspects.
“Child exploitation is not the work of one person alone when others enable, facilitate, or profit from the abuse,” he said.
Following his arrest, Markle, an 82-year-old American national, appeared before the US Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson at the Sam M. Gibbons United States Courthouse in Tampa, Florida.
He faces allegations of possessing child sexual abuse material, including images of himself with naked minors.
