Actor Ashton Kutcher has left the nonprofit group he founded as a result of his involvement in the sentencing of Danny Masterson.
Kutcher and then-wife Demi Moore founded Thorn in 2012 to “defend children from sexual abuse,” according to its website. Last year, the organization found 824,466 child sexual abuse material files, which in turn helped identify 1,895 victims. On Friday, Thorn announced that Kutcher was resigning as board chairman.
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This announcement comes after Kutcher, along with his current wife, Mila Kunis, wrote letters to the judge who was about to sentence Masterson. Kutcher, Kunis, and Masterson were all co-stars on That ’70s Show, which ran from 1998 to 2006 and had 200 episodes. The letters were written to encourage a shorter sentence than what Masterson ultimately received: 30 years to life in prison.
“After my wife and I spent several days of listening, personal reflection, learning, and conversations with survivors and the employees and leadership at Thorn, I have determined the responsible thing for me to do is resign as Chairman of the Board, effectively immediately,” Kutcher wrote in a statement. “I cannot allow my error in judgment to distract from our efforts and the children we serve.”
“Ashton founded Thorn over a decade ago with one goal in mind: to protect children from sexual abuse and give them the childhood they deserve,” Thorn board member Suzanne Bell said. “His unwavering dedication and commitment to Thorn throughout its journey have enabled the organization to become the leader that it is in the child safety ecosystem. It has been my privilege to join him on this mission.”
On the website underneath Kutcher’s statement, the nonprofit group wrote it “would not be the Thorn that we are today without Ashton’s contributions.” Kutcher maintained he will “remain proud of what we have accomplished in the past decade and will continue to support Thorn’s work.”
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“The mission must always be the priority and I want to offer my heartfelt apology to all victims of sexual violence and everyone at Thorn who I hurt by what I did,” Kutcher went on. “And to the broader advocacy community, I am deeply sorry.”
Since its inception, Thorn has identified more than 27,000 victims via 2 million-plus files of child abuse.
