Thomas Markle Sr., the estranged father of Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, was arrested by federal agents Friday at the Florida senior-living facility where he has been staying, and now faces a single federal count of possession of child pornography.

FBI agents took the 82-year-old into custody at Maravida Senior Living in Lakeland, near Tampa, according to reporting from the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. He made his initial appearance the same day in U.S. District Court in Tampa, where U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas Wilson ordered him released on house arrest with GPS monitoring rather than held in jail pending trial, per multiple outlets' accounts of the hearing. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison.

An investigation that started overseas

The case traces back to an investigation opened in the Philippines after one of Markle's sons, Thomas Markle Jr., reported finding suspected abuse material among his father's belongings, according to earlier reporting cited by KIRO 7. Philippine authorities have said an anti-trafficking task force in Cebu is involved in the matter.

Markle has forcefully denied wrongdoing. In an interview with Britain's Daily Mail, he described the allegations as "sick lies." A criminal charge, of course, is not a conviction, and his case has not yet gone to trial.

SICK LIES

Markle's relationship with his daughter has been estranged and famously public for years, predating her 2018 marriage to Prince Harry; the two have not spoken in any meaningful way since. Buckingham Palace and representatives for the Duchess have not commented publicly on the arrest, and there is no indication Meghan Markle has been in contact with her father regarding the case.

What's next: Markle remains on house arrest in Florida while the case proceeds through the federal court system in Tampa. No trial date has yet been reported.