Wheel of Fortune announcer Jim Thornton has been temporarily suspended from the show following claims that he was seen looking at what appears to be messages from a paedophile support group during a flight. The incident occurred in May when a passenger reportedly noticed troubling messages on Thornton’s laptop during an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Los Angeles. The passenger then alerted the cabin crew and showed them photographs of the screen. The images, according to reports from Page Six and TMZ, included messages referencing children, such as "Couple of cute boys and a hot little girl" and "All-you-can-eat Boyfett," which the passenger believed was a reference to a restaurant where children could be found. Another message reportedly included the abbreviation "CP," which the passenger interpreted as child pornography. After the pilot was informed, law enforcement was contacted and questioned Thornton upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport. However, he was not arrested or charged with a crime and was allowed to leave. Thornton’s lawyer, Allison Hart, released a statement clarifying that he had accidentally accessed the website in question while participating in suicide-prevention advocacy. She explained that Thornton had become involved in suicide prevention after the loss of a close family member to suicide two years ago. During this work, he visited chat rooms offering support to those with suicidal thoughts. One of the sites he visited was 988lifeline.org, a legitimate suicide prevention resource. However, he was misdirected to a forum with a similar URL, lifeline.chat, which he believed to be a similar support forum. Hart stated that Thornton immediately left the site upon realizing its nature and has not returned. Law enforcement confirmed that no illegal content was found on the site, and no crime had occurred. They told Thornton he was free to go. Sony Pictures Television, which produces Wheel of Fortune, confirmed that Thornton had been suspended while the allegations are investigated. A spokesperson said the network is "recasting while we conduct a thorough investigation." Thornton has been with Wheel of Fortune since 2011 and currently works alongside host Ryan Seacrest and Vanna White.