California’s top federal prosecuting office confirmed on Tuesday that 82-year-old Thomas Markle, father of Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, is alleged to have removed his court-mandated electronic location monitoring bracelet, just days after he was taken into custody on charges of possessing child sexual abuse material. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli shared the development in a public post on social media platform X, stating that his office is formally petitioning the court to revoke Markle’s pre-trial release status and hold him in custody as the case moves toward trial, with a commitment to pursue full, uncompromising prosecution under existing state and federal statutes. Markle was apprehended in Florida last week, and under the terms of his initial pre-trial release, he was confined to his assisted living residence and required to wear the non-removable GPS tracking bracelet to ensure compliance with movement restrictions. The 82-year-old has repeatedly rejected the core charges against him in prior public statements, dismissing the allegations that he held illicit exploitative imagery of children as baseless, “sick lies.” The case, which has drawn widespread public attention due to Markle’s high-profile family ties to the British royal household, is classified as an active, developing investigation, with prosecutors noting additional evidence and procedural details are set to be released in the coming days. The BBC, which first broke the news of the alleged bracelet tampering, advises readers to refresh their news feeds for updated filings and court announcements, and notes that real-time breaking alerts for the case are available via the BBC News mobile application and official @BBCBreaking X account.