Ashton Kutcher's non-profit organisation Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children identified almost 6,000 child victims of human sex trafficking last year, it has emerged.

The 40-year-old actor, co-founded Thorn, originally known as DNA Foundation, with ex-wife Demi Moore in 2009. The organisation helps fight child sex exploitation.

Impact reports from the organisation for 2017, show that Thorn's software allowed law enforcement and investigators to identify 5,791 child sex trafficking victims.

Making a difference: Ashton Kutcher's non-profit organisation Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children identified almost 6,000 child victims of human sex trafficking last year, it has emerged

They were able to rescue 103 children from situations where sexual abuse of them was recorded and sold on.

The organisation's manifesto is 'Until every child can be a kid.’

Thorn uses web application Spotlight which provides law enforcement with information and leads on suspected human trafficking networks, and ads which may be children, in order to identify and recover victims.

It is now used by 5,000 officers in all 50 states and Canada.

Impact: Impact reports from the organisation for 2017, show that Thorn's software allowed law enforcement and investigators to identify 5,791 child sex trafficking victims and rescue 103 children

In 2016, during an appearance on the Today show, the actor said 'We've identified and recovered more than 6,000 trafficking victims this year. We identified and recovered more than 2,000 traffickers.'

He also stated his next mission was to eliminate child pornography from the internet.

In February 2017 Kutcher travelled to Washington D.C to give an impassioned speech during a hearing at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee where he spoke about his work fighting against human trafficking and saving children from sexual abuse.

Kutcher flew out to Washington a week before Shine a Light on Slavery Day, a day created by the End It organization to raise awareness on the issue.

Speech: In February 2017 Kutcher travelled to Washington D.C to give an impassioned speech during a hearing at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee where he spoke about his work fighting against human trafficking and saving children from sexual abuse

The famous romcom actor became emotional during his powerful speech, stating his goal was to 'defend the right to pursue happiness'.

'But the right to pursue happiness, for so many, is stripped away. It’s raped. It’s abused. It’s taken by force, fraud, or coercion. It is sold for the momentary happiness of another,' he said.

Kutcher described his experiences as chairman of the organization saying he has met victims from Russia, India, and parts of the US and has been on FBI raids where he saw things 'no person should ever see.'

He was seen holding back tears as he described a time that he watched a video of a child the same age as his own, being raped by an American man who was sex tourist in Cambodia.

Kutcher also added that his organization was the 'last line of defense' in helping the Department of Homeland Security trying to locate a seven-year-old girl that was being sexually abused in content that was circulating around the dark web.

'This is the part where Internet trolls start telling me to stick to my day job, he said.

After detailing his harrowing experiences on the job, Kutcher added: 'That’s my day job, and I’m sticking to it.'

The actor is married to actress and former co-star, Mila Kunis. The couple have two children, daughter Wyatt, three, and son Dimitri, 18 months.

Emotion: The famous romcom actor became emotional during his powerful speech, stating his goal was to 'defend the right to pursue happiness'

He told 48 Hours last month: 'You can roll up your sleeves and go try to be like a hero and save one person or you can build a tool that allows one person to save a lot of people," he said in the episode.

'And our algorithms are getting better — we're getting smarter — we're getting the tool in more people's hands.'

The star also admitted that he has trouble talking about human trafficking without getting emotional.