Meghan’s father Thomas Markle detained for allegedly cutting off ankle monitor, officials say

The 82-year-old was placed under house detention in Florida last week after being charged over possession of child sex abuse material.

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Thomas Markle, the father of Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, has been detained in Florida for allegedly removing his ankle monitor, according to justice department officials in Los Angeles.

Markle appeared before a federal magistrate judge in Tampa after allegedly removing his ankle monitor at 01:45 local time (06:45 GMT), a justice department spokesperson told the BBC.

The judge ordered him jailed without bond and he is now in federal custody, the spokesperson said.

Markle, who has previously denied possessing images of child sex abuse, was arrested in Florida last week and placed under house detention. He was also ordered to wear a location monitoring device.

The BBC has contacted representatives for Markle.

He was arrested last week after the FBI, acting on warrants, searched storage units in Los Angeles registered to him which he had rented since 2008, with the last payment being made in October this year, the justice department (DoJ) said.

Inside the units the FBI says agents seized about 78 items, including film negatives, slides and books that they allege contained child sex abuse material.

Markle appeared in court last week following his arrest. No plea was taken during the appearance, which set several conditions for his pretrial release, including that he be kept in home detention.

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