A US federal judge ordered this Tuesday to imprison again Thomas Markle Sr., father of the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, for removing his electronic pager, which violated his probation order following his arrest last week for possession of child pornography.
Markle Sr., 82 years old, is already in prison. After removing the device around 1:45 a.m. local time (6:45 GMT) on Tuesday, “federal agents arrested him later” that same day and “he is in federal custody,” the Department of Justice assured in a message to EFE.
In an emergency hearing, the judge Lindsay Griffinof the Middle District of Florida, revoked house arrest that authorities had granted to Prince Harry’s 82-year-old father-in-law after his arrest last Friday, court documents in the case revealed.
“I found that the defendant violated the conditions of his procedural freedom and that, given the lack of adequate housing, no condition or combination of conditions would reasonably ensure the safety of another person or the community, as well as the defendant’s appearance in court,” Griffin wrote.
“The conditions of procedural release are court orders, not suggestions. We are asking the court to revoke his release and detain him pending trial, and we will continue to prosecute this case to the fullest extent of the law,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli.
Judge Griffin orders psychiatric examination of Markle Sr.
Likewise, the United States federal judge asked for a psychiatric examination to Thomas Markle Sr., father of the Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, suspecting that he is not “mentally competent” to understand his criminal process following his arrest for child pornography last week in Florida.
Court documents available this Tuesday revealed that Magistrate Lindsay Griffin, of the Central District of Florida, ordered an independent psychiatric review and obtain “all mental health records” of Markle Sr., Prince Harry’s father-in-law, after his court appearance last Friday.
“I find reasonable cause to believe that the defendant may currently suffer from a mental illness or defect that renders him mentally incapacitated to the extent that he is unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or render due assistance in his defense,” Griffin wrote.
In turn, the judge requested a report, no later than November 20, that includes the background of the accused and his current symptoms, a description of the psychiatric, psychological and medical tests administered and the conclusions of the independent examinerpsychiatrist Amie Gerodimos.
The judge requested that the psychiatrist give her opinion “if the accused suffers from a mental illness or defect that renders him incapable” of facing his trial.
The arrest of Markle Sr.
FBI agents arrested the accused last Friday, 82 years oldin the town of Lakeland, Florida, where he lived in a clinic specializing in dementia care.
Markle Sr. is accused of possess child sexual abuse material, “including photographs in which he appears with underage girls,” the first assistant US attorney for the United States reported in a statement. Bill Essayli.
Likewise, the FBI revealed that it found some 78 items, including slides, film negatives and books with alleged sexually explicit material in two Los Angeles-area warehouses that the defendant rented for nearly two decades.
This discovery occurred after the opening of an investigation in the Philippineswhere Markle Sr. lived until last May, before moving to Lakeland.
If you are found guilty, Markle Sr. would face a maximum sentence of twenty years in federal prison.
For its part, Meghan Markle He assured in a letter sent to the British media The Sun on October 23 that he had known since 2018 of these accusations against his father based on information from the British Police, so who cut off the relationship and prevented her from contacting her children.
