Wire reporting: (AP, via Al Jazeera)

Thomas Wayne Markle, 82, of Lakeland, Florida, was arrested Friday on a federal complaint charging one count of possessing child sexual abuse material, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said^4,1.

A magistrate in Tampa ordered home detention with electronic monitoring at an assisted living facility; no plea was taken, and a California arraignment date had not been set, BBC reported¹.

The FBI, acting on warrants, searched two Los Angeles-area storage units registered to Markle since 2008 and said it seized about 78 items, including film, slides and books alleged to contain illegal images, the Justice Department and BBC said^4,1.

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli said prosecutors would pursue the case; FBI Director Kash Patel said agents moved quickly after locating alleged material⁴.

A criminal complaint contains allegations, the U.S. Attorney's Office said, and defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court⁴.

If convicted, Markle would face a statutory maximum of 20 years in federal prison, the office said⁴.

Markle has previously denied related allegations, BBC reported¹.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex had not commented on the arrest as of BBC's report; Meghan has been estranged from her father since 2018, the network said¹.

What a California court does at arraignment, and how Markle pleads, is not yet known^1,4.