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A federal magistrate judge in Tampa found on November 10 that Thomas Markle had violated conditions of his pretrial release after he allegedly cut off an electronic ankle monitor early that morning, according to court documents. U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsay S. Griffin ruled that Markle’s housing situation had become untenable and that no set of conditions could reasonably assure community safety or his appearance in court. The 82-year-old was denied bond and returned to federal custody, with the judge also ordering a medical evaluation and directing that he receive all necessary prescribed medication unless a physician discontinues it. Griffin further specified that Markle should be housed separately from the general jail population to the extent practicable, a Reuters report indicated.
Prosecutors told the court that Markle removed the monitor at 1:45 a.m. on November 10, prompting his swift rearrest ahead of a scheduled 2:30 p.m. hearing. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli stated in a post on X that release conditions are court orders, not suggestions, while confirming authorities would continue to prosecute the case to the fullest extent of the law. Essayli had noted four days earlier that a judge allowed Markle to remain out of custody pending trial on the condition he wear the location monitoring device. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in California’s Central District confirmed the sequence of events to multiple outlets including USA Today.
Markle had been arrested the previous Friday at a senior care center in Lakeland, Florida, where he was taken into custody by ambulance after federal agents seized approximately 78 items from storage units in the Los Angeles area that he had rented since 2008. Those items included slides, film negatives and books containing suspected child sexual abuse images, among them explicit photographs of Markle posed with a naked underage girl and other images of him with children in various states of undress, according to a Department of Justice account reported by the Associated Press. He faces one count of possession of child sexual abuse material, to which he has not entered a plea, and has previously denied possessing such material. The arrest stemmed from information provided after Markle’s son reportedly discovered similar items while clearing out property in the Philippines.
At the time of his initial arrest, the former Hollywood lighting director, who uses a wheelchair following a leg amputation last year, was placed under house detention at an assisted living facility and fitted with the ankle monitor as part of his pretrial release terms. The judge in that earlier hearing also ordered a mental competency examination with a report due by November 20. Court records reviewed by outlets including People magazine show prosecutors moved quickly to seek revocation once the monitor tampering was discovered. Markle’s representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment from several news organizations.
The Duchess of Sussex has been estranged from her father for years and previously described herself as deeply distressed by allegations against him. Markle has not commented publicly on the latest developments since his return to custody. The case remains pending in California federal court, where it was originally brought, with authorities yet to disclose where he will be held during the pretrial period. External reporting from NBC News and others noted the development coincided with Meghan Markle’s first public appearance since news of the initial arrest broke.
