Jonvic Remulla names Markle Jr a person of interest in child abuse inquiry

Remulla says more than 7,000 photos and one video were uncovered

Jonvic Remulla, the Philippine interior and local government secretary, told a press conference in Manila that Thomas Markle Jr, Meghan’s estranged half-brother, had been named a person of interest in the Philippine authorities’ inquiry into child sexual abuse image allegations against his father, Thomas Markle Sr. Remulla said Markle Jr was not yet being treated as a suspect.

Markle Jr, 60, alerted local police and the FBI after claiming to have found four storage boxes at his father’s home in the Philippines. He said the boxes contained “hundreds, if not thousands” of child sex abuse images. Remulla said the material Markle Jr handed to police was not thought to be directly linked to his alleged involvement. Markle Jr remains in Cebu City.

Remulla said more than 7,000 photos and one video had been uncovered. He said the material showed under-age males and females of Asian, Latin and European descent, with some as young as 10 and 11. He described the images as “the most deplorable displays of impunity towards sexual activity that I have ever seen.”

Thomas Markle Sr, 82, who is estranged from Meghan, returned to the US from the Philippines in May. He has reportedly been moved into a care home for dementia patients in the US, where he now lives. He has admitted paying for sex in the Philippines but strongly denied possessing child abuse imagery and suggested he had been “set up.”

Police and FBI agents have since been investigating whether Markle Sr was in possession of illegal images while living in the Philippines and Mexico, where he previously lived. Other illegal images were reportedly found in one of his storage units in Mexico.

According to The Sun, which first published the claims, Markle Jr was recently interviewed at his home in Cordova, Cebu, as part of an international, multi-agency meeting via Microsoft Teams. The Sun reported that he gave his statement to an FBI agent based in Florida who specializes in child sex abuse cases.

Meghan said in a statement issued when the allegations against her father were first published that she was “deeply distressed.” She said she had been informed of disturbing allegations against him in 2018 and had kept him from having contact with her children, Prince Archie, 7, and Princess Lilibet, 5, to protect them.

Remulla has previously described Markle Sr as “a possible sex offender of the grossest kind.” At the press conference, he said: “We’re determining if [the] son is involved … There are signs that point that the son is involved in the crime as well but only as a person of interest so far.” He added: “We will know in the next few days.” Authorities were still determining whether Markle Jr was involved.