Thomas Markle's son named 'person of interest' in child abuse investigation: Remulla
Trigger warning: This article has mentions of sexual abuse.
Thomas Markle Jr., 60, has been named a person of interest in an ongoing investigation involving thousands of explicit images and a video retrieved from digital devices allegedly owned by his father, Thomas Markle Sr.
Interior secretary Jonvic Remulla on Thursday, Nov. 5 said that they are looking into the Markle Jr. as there were witnesses that pointed underage girls are being brought to his house in Cebu.
"There are signs that point that the son is involved in the crime as well, but only as a person of interest so far. Hindi pa siya treated as suspect. We recovered 7,500 photos and one video, all of underage male and females of Asian, Latina, and European descent," he told reporters.
Remulla described the act as "one of the most deplorable displays of impunity towards sexual activity that I've ever seen," saying the images are "really, really disturbing."
"After surrendering, we had witnesses who testified that underage girls were being brought to his house with ring lights na naikita through the windows. So, sabi niya nag-ti-TikTok lang daw siya, but we looked at his TikTok account wala namang mga underage girls," he said.
Remulla said that Markle Jr. is still in Cebu.
On Wednesday, police said child abuse materials had been discovered among the cache turned over by Markle Sr.'s son amid an "intensifying" investigation.
"It is not enough to simply come across some materials and immediately draw conclusions," Philippine National Police chief Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr. said, in a statement provided in response to questions about the investigation.
"We have to establish where these came from, who may be responsible, and whether Philippine laws were violated," he said.
The revelation came a day after Mexican authorities raided a storage unit rented by Markle Sr. as part of the ongoing investigation.
The prosecutor's office of Mexico's Baja California state said Monday it had received an anonymous tip about the existence of child sex abuse material in a storage unit rented by Markle Sr.
Investigators said the owner of the storage unit reported Markle Sr. had stopped paying rent for it in 2024 but his possessions remained secured inside.
Authorities reported finding "magazines from Asia" dating back 20 years, without giving further details, as well as computer equipment that has been taken in for further investigation.
British tabloid The Sun first reported last month that Markle's son had discovered the child abuse images while going through boxes found in his father's former home.
Markle Sr. had been living in Cebu in the Philippines until reportedly returning to the United States earlier this year.
His daughter, Meghan Markle, has previously said she was "deeply distressed" by accusations that her father had possessed images of child abuse, adding she had blocked contact between him and her children over previous "troubling and disturbing" allegations. (with reports from AFP)