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By Jack Royston
Chief Royal Correspondent
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Meghan Markle's half brother is being treated as a "person of interest" by police in the Philippines as part of an investigation into child sexual abuse allegations against their father, Thomas Markle Sr.
Tom Markle Jr. reported their father to police in Cebu after stating that he found child abuse material among Markle Sr's possessions in a home Markle Sr. had vacated.
In a statement today, Jonvic Remulla, the interior secretary, said: "We’re determining if the son is involved. We have witnesses who say that underage girls were being brought to his house, and we are following it up.
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"To accuse the father only is only half the police work. There are signs that point that the son is a person of interest. He is not being treated as a suspect."
Markle Sr. has denied all the allegations against him, describing them as "sick lies." Newsweek approached Markle Jr. for comment and is awaiting a response.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani, president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, told Newsweek: "These are terms that are used by law enforcement. A suspect is a person who is the target of the investigation that they will likely arrest and charge. A person of interest may be charged, may be arrested or may not be."
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The Global Investigation Into Thomas Markle Sr
The investigations into Thomas Markle began in the Philippines after Tom Markle Jr. reported him to local law enforcement. The son said he had found what he believed to be child abuse images among boxes of personal possessions.
Officers seized evidence from the property, where Markle Sr. had been living for some time but had vacated after returning to America. Major General Wilson Asueta, of the Philippine National Police, this week confirmed Child Sexual Exploitative and Abuse Material [CSEAM] was believed to be among the photos and computer files seized.
"We were able to find that there are files consisting of CSEAM," he said. "This will be subjected further to analysis. These are videos of a male and female minors, others who are not minors doing sexual activities and of course, explicit materials.
"We are conducting ongoing digital forensics analysis and our field investigators are also doing their best conducting investigations… to validate the information that was provided to us. The investigation is going in the right direction."
Mexican police then received a tipoff after the newspaper Daily Mail said it had found further material in a storage unit in Mexico just south of the U.S. border. Officers raided the unit on Saturday. The Baja California State Prosecutor's office confirmed on Monday to news agency Agence France-Presse that magazines and computer equipment had been found but did not confirm whether they considered any of the evidence to be criminal.
Markle Jr. recently told The Sun he had told FBI agents about further lockups in Los Angeles, which he believed should be searched as part of the investigation.
"I dread to think what they might find," he said, "especially given what has been found in the Philippines and Mexico."
There has been no official confirmation of a search of the storage units he reported to the FBI. "My father told me about the two units years ago," he said. "He’s had them for about 15 years. One is stuffed to the brim with Meghan’s old furniture. The other is packed with boxes, books, photos, mementos for his career in Hollywood, stuff from Meghan’s college days and God knows what else."
Meghan Markle's Reaction to the Investigation
Meghan expressed her concern about the investigation after the initial report to police in the Philippines was revealed by The Sun in October. "I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours, and my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed," Meghan said in a statement to Newsweek.
And she said Metropolitan Police officers had handed her a letter some years ago containing serious allegations against her father, which was reportedly written by Thomas Markle Sr's ex-wife Roslyn Loveless.
"It made troubling and disturbing allegations against my father, and I was given assurances that these were being investigated," Meghan said in her statement.
"I hope it can now be understood that, despite certain media publications' distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our children, was for one reason: to protect them.
"I trusted that the authorities were doing the same for other families. Although the breadth of what has now been uncovered is more sickening than one could ever imagine, my sincerest hope is that justice will be fully served and that the priority remains the safety and protection of innocent children."
British Police Under Investigation
British Police officers also referred themselves for investigation after the contents of the letter, believed to have been sent in around January 2019, were not passed on to any other law enforcement agencies in America or elsewhere.
The Independent Office for Police Conduct said in a statement: "Following a voluntary conduct referral from the Met Police, we have decided an independent investigation is required into its failure to pass on allegations of serious offending, contained in a letter it received in 2019, to relevant overseas authorities at the time."
Meghan had initially said she believed she was given the letter in 2018, but the Metropolitan Police Service said it had been sent it later, in 2019.
"Following a thorough review of Met police systems and records, we have confirmed that, in January 2019, we received a letter containing a number of claims about alleged offending outside the United Kingdom," the Met's statement read. "It was sent to the MPS (Metropolitan Police Service) Protection Command to raise concerns in relation to the security of the Duchess of Sussex.
"The letter was reviewed and a decision was made that it should be passed to the office of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex for their awareness," the Met's statement added. "The details of the allegations in the letter were not shared with other law enforcement agencies.
"The MPS is reviewing the handling of this matter in 2019 and considering whether a referral to the IOPC is necessary to review our approach."
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: John Fitzpatrick and James Debens
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