Ashton Kutcher quits Twitter after comments over Joe Paterno sex scandal (VIDEO)

Ashton Kutcher, the 10th most-popular Twitter user with more than 8.2 million followers, has reportedly shut down his Twitter account after "erroneously" tweeting his support for ousted US college football coach Joe Paterno, embroiled in a sex abuse scandal.

"As an advocate in the fight against child sexual exploitation, I could not be more remorseful for all involved in the Penn St. case," Kutcher posted under the Twitter handle @aplusk.

Kutcher, the star of "Two and a Half Men," co-founded a charity to end child sex slavery.

"As of immediately I will stop tweeting until I find a way to properly manage this feed. I feel awful about this error. Won't happen again." he later added, before posting at least 4 more tweets.

Paterno, 84, formerly head coach of the Pennsylvania State University football team, was fired Wednesday amid the growing child sex abuse scandal surrounding his former assistant, defensive coach Jerry Sandusky.

The Penn State board of trustees claims that Paterno turned a blind eye to abuse carried out by Sandusky, who has been arrested on charges of molesting and raping eight young boys over 15 years, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. One victim was just 10, the paper added.

Kutcher had questioned the decision to fire Paterno, writing on Twitter: "How do you fire Jo Pa? insult. no class. as a hawkeye (University of Iowa) fan I find it in poor taste."

However, after a stream of criticism and insults, Kutcher deleted the Tweet on Wednesday night. 

People magazine points out that it's the second Twitter "faux pas" for Kutcher, who backtracked after calling Sept. 11 "the greatest day of the year" because it was the start of football season.