nunyabizniāāThis is about the time, when I talk about politics, that the Internet trolls tell me to stick to my day job,ā the actor said. āIād like to talk about my day job. My day job is the chairman and the co-founder of Thorn. We built software to fight human trafficking and the sexual exploitation of children. My other day job is that of the father of two, a 2-month old and 2-year-old.ā
Kutcher, 39, shares daughter Wyatt and son Dimitri with wife Mila Kunis.
He then described joining the FBI in raids in India, Russia, Mexico and stateside in New Jersey and New York.
āIāve seen things that no person should ever see,ā he said, tearing up. āIāve seen video content of a child that is the same age as mine being raped by an American man that was a sex tourist in Cambodia. This child was so conditioned by her environment that she thought she was engaging in play.ā
He continued, āIāve been on the other end of a phone call from my team asking for my help because we had received a call from the Department of Homeland Security, telling us that a 7-year-old girl was being sexually abused and that content was being spread on the Dark Web ⦠Theyād watched her for three years and they could not find the perpetrator, [and were] asking us for help. We were the last line of defense. An actor and his foundation were the last line of defense.ā
āI had to say no and it devastated me, it haunted me,ā Kutcher said, choking up again. āFor the next three months I had to go to sleep every night and think about that little girl that was being abused and the fact that if I built the right thing, we could have saved her. Now, if I got that phone call, the answer would be yes.ā
He then recalled the story of āAmy,ā a 15-year-old girl from Oakland, Calif., who was forced into trafficking within hours of meeting a man in person sheād first talked to online. āThis isnāt an isolated incident. Thereās not much thatās unusual about it,ā Kutcher said. āThe only unusual thing is that āAmyā was found and returned to her family within three days using a tool we created ⦠called Spotlight.ā
Kutcher said the tool aids police in cutting investigation time by 60 percent, adding, āThatās my day job and Iām sticking to it.ā
It wasnāt all heavy: Kutcher and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) had a lighthearted moment after his speech. āYou were better looking in the movies,ā McCain said.
Kutcher, blowing McCain, 80, a kiss, replied, āMy wife says that, too.āā
Slavery is still alive and well in the world, and he is helping to stamp it out.