Wheel's Jim Thornton Was Allegedly in Pedophile Chat Room on Plane

Thornton's lawyer Allison Hart told TMZ that the chat room is “not unlawful" and "there is no unlawful child pornography or other pedophilic content." She added, "My client never viewed, downloaded or consumed any child pornography whether on that commercial flight in May or at any other time.” 

The attorney explained the situation by saying that Thornton had become involved in suicide-prevention advocacy and had previously visited the help site 988lifeline.org and its chat forum, chat.988lifeline.org, to talk with people in need. However, this time an acquaintance from his suicide prevention community had sent him a link to this chat room with a similar name that had sexual content.

"When my client understood what the website was about, he left the page and has not visited since," the attorney added, though according to TMZ, it appears Thornton was in the chat room for 57 minutes based on the photos.

American Airlines told E! News in a statement that Flight 1276 was met by law enforcement after arriving at Los Angeles International Airport on May 14 "following concerns reported by a customer onboard," but did not share additional details.

Thornton—who joined Wheel of Fortune in 2011 after the death of Charlie O’Donnell—was not arrested and has not been charged with any crime, his attorney told TMZ Sept. 1.

“When questioned about the complaint made by a fellow passenger on the flight,” the attorney said, “law enforcement spoke to him for five minutes or less, immediately determined that no wrongdoing had occurred and told my client he was free to go."

Sony Pictures Television suspended Thornton from his post on Wheel of Fortune on Sept. 1 after the accusations came to light. 

“We have recently been made aware of allegations concerning Jim Thornton,” a Sony spokesperson said in a Sept. 1 statement to E! News. "He has been suspended from Wheel of Fortune and we are recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation.”