A British cave diver is suing tech billionaire Elon Musk for defamation after his repeated claims the diver is a child abuser.
Vernon Unsworth helped with the rescue of 12 Thai teenagers from a flooded cave in July.
Mr Musk has made several accusations against Mr Unsworth without evidence, including that he was a “child rapist”.
The lawsuit seeks $75,000 (£57,000) in compensation and an injunction against Mr Musk to stop further allegations.
The filing also says Mr Unsworth is seeking “punitive damages” as well as the compensation, “to punish him for his wrongdoing and deter him from repeating such heinous conduct”.
Read the lawsuit here [2MB]
It says Mr Musk sometimes used his Twitter account and emails to “publish to the world false and defamatory accusations” against the Briton.
His account had over 22.5 million followers during this time, the filing states.
The South African-born head of Tesla previously tweeted it was “strange he hasn’t sued me” when Mr Unsworth said he was considering legal action.
