The British cave diver who helped rescue 12 children in Thailand and who was hailed a hero by everybody in the world except Elon Musk – who instead decided to label him "pedo guy" and then later a "child rapist", has reportedly sued Musk for libel, assault and slander.

Vernon Unsworth and his attorneys filed the suit in the US district court for the Central District of California, according to BuzzFeed. The Tesla CEO's tweets and emails to BuzzFeed were submitted as exhibits in the lawsuit.

The suit alleges that Musk sought to destroy his reputation after Unsworth made outspoken comments about how he believed Musk's solution for the cave rescue was "just a PR stunt". The suit says Musk went after Unsworth's reputation “by publishing false and heinous accusations of criminality against him to the public.”

The lawsuit provides a history of the rescue according to Unsworth. It paints him as a "highly respected caver" with four decades of experience, including a handful of rescues in the United Kingdom. And the suit also reportedly explains that Unsworth's first visit to Thailand was in 2011, before exploring the caves for the first time in May 2012.

The suit reportedly says he spent six years going over the cave system and that he was "the first foreign rescuer" to arrive on the scene after calls for help. It also claims he was one of the last to leave, which directly contradicts Musk’s statement that he was banned from the site.



It states that he has never visited the area of Pattaya Beach, a destination in Thailand known for sex tourism. His lawyer stated:

“Musk falsely states that Mr.Unsworth had visited Pattaya Beach or lived in Thailand for 30 to 40 years and falsely stated that he lived in Chiang Rai with a 12-year-old bride. While the Cave System at issue contains a shelf and air pocket nicknamed ‘Pattaya Beach,’ which is near where the stranded Boys were located, Mr. Unsworth has never visited Pattaya Beach in Thailand.”

Unsworth’s British lawyer, Mark Stephens, told AP: “Twibels (Twitter libels) show that falsehoods by the rich and powerful can circulate round the globe to their 22.5 million followers and to the media before the truth can pull its boots on. The truth has now got its boots on and Elon Musk is being brought to account for repeatedly attacking and taunting the good name of an ordinary spelunker: Vernon Unsworth who answered the call and (with others) put his life on the line to help rescue the 13 trapped in the caves in Thailand.”

Recently Musk had quadrupled down on his comments that Unsworth was indeed a pedophile based solely on the fact that Unsworth had not sued him yet. Now, it looks like that argument is off the table for Musk.

Not even 7 days after we pondered what part of Elon Musk's PR genius compelled him to triple down on his claim that Unsworth was a "pedo" than Musk was back at it again. He then reportedly quadrupled down on these claims, essentially going "all in" on his previous statements and labeling rescue diver Vern Unsworth a "child rapist" in an e-mail he sent to BuzzFeed news.

Musk said Unsworth had moved to Thailand in order to take a child bride "who was about 12 years old at the time". Musk wrote:

“I suggest that you call people you know in Thailand, find out what’s actually going on and stop defending child rapists, you fucking asshole,” Musk wrote in the first message. “He’s an old, single white guy from England who’s been traveling to or living in Thailand for 30 to 40 years, mostly Pattaya Beach, until moving to Chiang Rai for a child bride who was about 12 years old at the time.”

This is the final paragraph in the section titled: "Musk's False and Defamatory Accusations" pic.twitter.com/seTVWG4C8i — kadhim (＾ｰ^)ノ (@kadhimshubber) September 17, 2018

You can read the whole 65 page lawsuit here: