Ashton Kutcher makes emotional appeal to senators to tackle child sexual abuse

Actor Ashton Kutcher has given an emotional speech to US senators as he called for more action to tackle child sexual abuse.

The Hollywood star discussed progress in combating modern slavery in a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington.

Ashton, 39, co-founded the organisation Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, which builds software to fight human trafficking.

The visibly emotional actor – who has two young children with actress Mila Kunis – said: “I’ve been on FBI raids where I’ve seen things that no person should ever see.

Taylor Swift surprises fans with secret ‘double album’ edition of her new record

Five songs from Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department decoded

“I’ve seen video content of a child that’s the same age as mine being raped by an American man that was a sex tourist in Cambodia.

“And this child was so conditioned by her environment that she thought she was engaging in play.”

Ashton said his team received a call from the Department of Homeland Security asking for help to find a seven-year-old girl after footage of her being sexually abused was “spread around the dark web”.“She’d been abused for three years and they’d watched her for three years and they could not find the perpetrator, asking us for help,” he said.“We were the last line of defence. An actor and his foundation were the potential last line of defence.

“That’s my day job and I’m sticking to it.”In a more light-hearted moment at the hearing, Ashton blew a kiss towards Republican senator and former US presidential candidate John McCain.It came after McCain told the actor: “Ashton, you were better looking in the movies.”