The FBI has offered to help police in the Philippines with investigating Thomas Markle Sr's child pornography allegations, according to a new report.
Filipino authorities are investigating Meghan Markle's father after his son, Thomas Markle Jr, claimed that he found 'hundreds' of alleged child porn images at their dad's home.
On Friday, the FBI said it will support local authorities with the probe, TMZ reported.
'The FBI is aware of the allegations and will provide support, as appropriate, to the Philippine authorities. We will also investigate any related allegations of federal violations of U.S. law,' the agency told the outlet.
Thomas Sr lived in the US most of his life before moving to Mexico following his retirement. He then relocated to Cebu, Philippines, but has since returned to America and resides at a rehabilitation center in Florida.
He has denied the allegations, calling them 'sick lies.'
The Duchess of Sussex revealed yesterday that she was made aware of the 'troubling and disturbing' claims shortly after her wedding to Prince Harry in 2018.
Meghan, who moved back to Britain with her family over the summer after six years in the US, has been estranged from her 82-year-old father since the royal wedding.
The FBI has offered to help cops in the Philippines with investigating Thomas Markle Sr's child pornography allegations, according to a new report
She said she never allowed him to meet her children, Prince Archie, seven, and Princess Lilibet, five, 'for one reason: to protect them.'
It has also recently emerged that Thomas Sr was accused of being a child abuser in a letter sent to Scotland Yard - the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police Service in London - in 2018.
The letter, sent to the agency's Fixated Threat Assessment Centre (FTAC), a specialist unit dealing with potential threats to the Royal Family and other high-profile figures, allegedly accused him of sexually abusing a child.
It also claimed that he admitted to traveling to Thailand and the Philippines to abuse children.
However, the Metropolitan Police said on Friday that it was unable to confirm whether officers had ever passed the letter to Meghan, despite her claims that the information had been shared with her.
The Sun has reportedly seen a copy of the letter, confirming its existence after Meghan publicly disclosed the allegations.
The letter is understood to have since been shared with police, who are conducting internal enquiries into whether it was passed to the Duchess in 2018.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police said: 'We are aware of media reports that officers from the Met's Royalty and Specialist Protection Command were involved in the passing on of a letter in 2018.
'We are undertaking enquiries internally in an effort to confirm this.'
The Daily Mail understands that the agency has not previously investigated Thomas Sr and is not currently probing him.
The force has not confirmed if any information was passed to law enforcement agencies abroad.
One source told The Sun: 'Questions must be asked about whether the Met ever acted on the information in the letter.
'They promised Meghan they were investigating but nothing seems to have been done at all.'
Breaking news... Updates to follow.
Source link
