THE Duchess of Sussex issued an impassioned plea for justice tonight as her estranged dad was charged with possessing child abuse images in the US.
Meghan is hoping for a “full investigation” into over a sick hoard virtually identical to material found by a Sun probe in the Philippines last month.
were unearthed by the FBI in a pair of lock-up storage units rented in California by the retired Hollywood lighting director.
US agents revealed that a man identified as was seemingly pictured on 35mm film negatives abusing pre-pubescent girls.
His daughter Meghan, 45, and husband were informed of the findings as her paedophile suspect father was wheeled into court yesterday.
A close friend of the Duchess told The Sun last night: “It is her sincerest hope that a full and thorough investigation will now help deliver justice for the victims.”
It comes two weeks after we revealed in a world exclusive that Markle Snr had been reported to police in the Philippines by his son, .
Thomas Jnr lived in Cebu City before his father moved back to the US after a blood clot led to a leg amputation last December.
The son raised the alarm after discovering depraved material in his father’s abandoned belongings.
FBI agents revealed yesterday that similar caches were discovered in raids on two lock-ups in central Los Angeles.
had not been near either for years but had carried on paying £520 a month to rent them.
Agents confirmed 27 items were recovered from the first storage unit on October 30, including slides, film negatives and books “that contain suspected child pornography”.
was searched on Thursday — the day after The Sun revealed that Thomas Jnr had directed the FBI to it.
It contained 51 further items, including more child abuse images — with 18 on old 35mm negatives showing a man identified as .
Agents used a special Nikon scanner to convert negatives into colour digital photographs — and singled out three damning images.
An FBI agent’s sworn affidavit, released yesterday, said the first negative showed “an image of an adult man wearing a white button-down shirt and blue jeans sitting on a white surface.
“A nude pre-pubescent girl is sitting on the adult man’s lap so that her back is against his left chest.”
The agent describes the man’s position as he touches her while engaging in a sickening sex act.
They add: “Based on my training and experience, the girl pictured in image one is pre-pubescent. The child’s nudity, pose, and the adult man’s actions appear designed to elicit a sexual response from the viewer.”
Image two shows a man in a different pose with the prepubescent girl.
The agent said: “The adult man has his right arm wrapped around the girl’s hips and he appears to be looking down at her nude body. The child’s pose suggests sexual coyness and appears to be designed to elicit a sexual response in the viewer.”
Image three shows a naked pre-pubescent girl sitting on a bed with a second partially clothed girl “of indeterminate age” behind her.
The FBI statement said agents had interviewed witnesses to identify the man in the pictures.
A source said to have known since the 1970s is among those believed to have positively identified him.
The FBI statement said of additional images in the first stash: “I believe they depict him (Markle Snr), along with children in various stages of undress.”
Agents were also said to have tracked down the room where the pics were taken in the .
They zeroed in on a logo in a third image emblazoned with the name “Anahaw Lodge” – a motel popular in the 1970s and ’80s.
That discovery mirrored claims in warning letters to UK police by .
She pleaded with royal protection cops shielding Prince Harry and Meghan to act, warning that her ex-husband made trips to the Philippines and Thailand to sate his lust for young girls.
Like The Sun’s team in the Philippines, FBI agents also found expired driving licences among materials which helped identify him.
HOW OUR SCOOPS LED TO ARREST
By Foreign Editor
A SUN world exclusive triggered the lightning-quick FBI child abuse investigation which led to Thomas Markle Snr’s dramatic court appearance last night.
The suspected paedophile was rolled into a hearing in his wheelchair two weeks to the day after we detonated the biggest royal scandal in decades.
Here’s a timeline of how Sun investigators unearthed the filth which pointed the finger at Meghan’s father — and changed the public’s perception of her as the drama unfolded.
OCT 17: The Sun’s Foreign Editor Nick Parker and photographer Dan Charity fly to Cebu City in the Philippines to investigate claims that Markle Snr is a serial paedophile.
OCT 19: Markle’s own son, Thomas Jnr, 60, who had cared for him for four years, reveals he has found disturbing images of children among his dad’s abandoned belongings.
OCT 20: The Sun team begin detailed forensic analysis of four large boxes of material including computers, DVDs, cameras, VHS tapes and old 35mm negatives. Horrifying images of children emerge with direct links to Snr.
OCT 21: Markle Jnr reports his father to Philippines prosecutors and swears an affidavit.
OCT 22: Sun reporter Scarlet Howes handed a copy of Jnr’s affidavit to Special Agent Chelsea Malone at FBI’s Tampa HQ.
OCT 23: The entire stash is surrendered to police in Cebu City police as The Sun breaks the world exclusive story that Meghan’s dad is being probed over child sex allegations.
OCT 24: A second Sun world exclusive reveals a 35mm negative found shows Markle Snr abusing a naked girl who appears to be underage.
OCT 25: Another Sun page one exclusive revealed Megahn told her estranged father that she knew he had abused young girls in a letter she sent him last year.
OCT 26: Prosecutors in the Philippines warn that Markle Snr may be a sex offender “of the grossest kind” as it’s revealed he told his first wife he loved the Philippines as “12-year-olds are legal there”.
OCT 31: A second stash of filth mirroring the material in the Philippines is found in Mexico where Markle Snr had lived previously.
NOV 5: The Sun reveals in yet another page one exclusive that Thomas Markle Jnr has been interviewed by the FBI and directed them to more filth stored in Los Angeles. Agents rad the lock-up hours later.
NOV 6: Markle is arrested, wheeled away in handcuffs, charged and appears in court charged with possessing child abuse images as FBI agents release damning evidence.
It comes as police in Mexico — where the suspected paedophile lived for a decade — are investigating another sick stash found in a lock-up near his former home in Rasarito Beach last week.
The , which is said to have “lost” Ms Loveless’ warning letter, has referred itself to watchdogs over a failure to act in 2019.
Ms Loveless divorced Markle Snr in 1975 and died in 2024.
First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli said yesterday: “Mr Markle is accused of possessing child sexual abuse material, including photographs depicting himself with minor girls.
“These allegations are extremely serious, and we will prosecute Mr Markle to the fullest extent of federal law.”
Prosecutors added that he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
