Tesla's Musk sued for calling Thai cave rescuer 'pedo'

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A British caver who helped in the dramatic rescue of 12 boys trapped in Thailand earlier this year sued Tesla founder Elon Musk on Monday for calling him a "pedo guy" and a "child rapist."

The defamation suit filed in Los Angeles by Vernon Unsworth, a Briton involves in several cave rescues, follows a highly public spat between the two after Musk traveled to Thailand and offered to assist in rescue efforts.

The dispute made headlines in July, when Unsworth called Musk's effort to build a mini-submarine for the rescue a "PR stunt" and Musk responded on Twitter by calling Unsworth a "pedo guy", which is short for pedophile.

British diver Vernon Unsworth attends a thanksgiving reception in Bangkok for the successful rescue of the 12 boys and their coach out of a flooded cave in northern Thailand, September 6, 2018. /VCG Photo

Musk apologized days later but not before his comments were widely condemned, raising concerns over his leadership abilities.

But he reignited the dispute in August with an email to BuzzFeed News accusing Unsworth of being a "child rapist," marrying a 12-year-old and engaging in child sex trafficking, the lawsuit alleges.

Musk made the series of false statements "with actual malice, that is, with actual knowledge of falsity or a reckless disregard for truth or falsity," according to the complaint.

Unsworth is seeking unspecified damages "for the worldwide damage he has suffered to his reputation," according to the lawsuit, which noted that a separate complaint was being readied in the High Court of London.

The suit also seeks an injunction barring Musk from making further slanderous comments, according to Unsworth's lawyer L. Lin Wood.

"Elon Musk falsely accused Vernon Unsworth of being guilty of heinous crimes," Wood said in a statement. "Musk's influence and wealth cannot convert his lies into truth or protect him from accountability."

Unsworth looks to Tham Luang cave complex during a search for members of an under-16 soccer team and their coach in Chiang Rai, Thailand, June 27, 2018. /VCG Photo

Unsworth, who lives part of the year in Thailand, took part in the gargantuan 18-day effort to retrieve the boys and their coach, a mission that ended on July 10, when the last five members were extracted.

Unsworth said he has been exploring caves since 1971, when he was 16, and now shares a house in the Thailand countryside near Chiang Rai with a 40-year-old woman who owns a nail salon.

Hertfordshire County resident said he is not a pedophile, child rapist, child sex trafficker, husband of a 12-year-old bride, or liar, and that the defamatory statements "were manufactured out of whole cloth by Musk" because of the disagreement over the mini-submarine.

(Cover: British diver Vernon Unsworth (L) and Tesla CEO Elon Musk (R) /VCG Photo)

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters