dpThese are the photos that got “Wheel of Fortune” announcer Jim Thornton suspended by the show and grilled by law enforcement.
Thornton was on an American Airlines flight back in May from Charlotte to L.A. … when a passenger eyed his laptop and saw him in a disturbing chatroom. The passenger tells TMZ, she saw images and texts that made it appear it was a chatroom for pedophiles.
One of the messages she saw said, “Couple of cute boys and a hot little girl.” Another read, “All-you-can-eat Boyfett.” referring to a restaurant where they could find underage kids.
And there’s another message references “CP,” which the passenger believed stood for child porn.
As a result, the passenger notified a flight attendant and shared these photos with the crew. We’re told the captain then notified authorities, and law enforcement met the plane when it landed at LAX.
We’re told authorities questioned Thornton and he was then free to leave.
Jim’s lawyer, Allison Hart, tells TMZ, Thornton had “become active in suicide-prevention advocacy since losing a close family member to suicide two years ago, and he has spent time visiting chat rooms offering support to individuals suffering from suicidal ideation.”
The “Wheel of Fortune” announcer’s attorney said he often visited a suicide prevention website named 988lifeline.org and its chat forum, chat.988lifeline.org.
Jim claims he was sent a link to a different chatroom, lifeline.chat, from an acquaintance at the suicide prevention group. Lifeline.chat is for people with pedophilic thoughts … and has no connection to the suicide hotline chat.
The announcer claims he left the chatroom once he found out what it was, although from the timestamps it appears Thornton was in the room for at least 57 minutes.
His lawyer added that website lifeline.chat is “not unlawful, there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content, and my client never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.”
Jim’s lawyer said their client was never arrested or charged with a crime. His lawyer claimed law enforcement spoke to Jim once he landed and determined no crime had occurred. “In short, my client did nothing wrong,” she said.
