Elon Musk faces a British diver whom he called "pedo" on Twitter while rescuing a cave in Thailand

A Los Angeles judge criticized Elon Musk's offer to dismiss the defamation suit against him.

Musk called the British hero Vernon Unsworth "pedophile" and "child rapist" on Twitter and in emails after Unsworth helped rescue boys stuck in a Thai cave last year.

Unsworth sues Tesla's tycoon for defamation in California federal court.

Musk asked the judge to dismiss the case last month, saying his tweets were protected by the First Amendment and should not have been taken seriously.

Elon Musk has asked a California judge to drop the lawsuit filed by a British diver who accused the tech entrepreneur of calling him a pedophile, but the judge refused.

Musk labeled the British diver "pedo guy" in a tweet before then deleting the message

Musk then apologized on Twitter, saying his words had been "expressed angrily". Chief Technology Officer now demands that the case be dismissed

Musk (right) accused Unsworth (left) of being a "paedo" when rescuing 12 schoolchildren from the Tham Luang Nang cave complex last summer. The case was then relaunched last week when Mr Musk suggested to BuzzFeed that Mr Unsworth was a "child molester".

However, in an order made Friday, Judge Stephen Wilson rejected Musk's application, authorizing the prosecution of the case.

Lin Wood, one of Unsworth's attorneys, told DailyMail.com: "We are extremely happy with the denial and I look forward to talking with Musk under oath about his false hateful accusations against Mr. Unsworth. "

Unsworth, 63, is a British financial broker from St Albans, near London. He has a seven-year-old girlfriend, Woranan Ratrawiphukkun, 40 years old.

The experienced diver was part of a team that successfully saved a football team consisting of 12 boys and a coach who were trapped for 18 days in a Thai cave last July.

British diver Vern Unsworth played a leading role in the operation to rescue a group of boys imprisoned in a cave in Thailand. He met with Premier Theresa May at Downing Street at a reception for people who participated in the rescue operation in the cave in Thailand.

Musk called diver Vernon Unsworth (pictured) of "pedo" in a tweet to his 22.5 million followers after Unsworth criticized Musk's efforts to help rescue young players imprisoned in a cave

Woranan Ratrawiphukkun, 40 (left) has a relationship with British expats in Thailand (right) Vernon Unsworth for seven years.

Unsworth was hailed as a heroine and was invited to visit the British prime minister at his home at 10 Downing Street.

In his lawsuit, filed in September, the Briton had claimed at least $ 75,000 in compensatory damages and unspecified punitive damages in Musk.

On July 15 of last year, Telsa's founder tweeted to more than 22 million followers, calling Unsworth "pedo-guy".

Although apologetic afterwards, Musk doubled his comments in an e-mail addressed to a Buzzfeed journalist, asking him to investigate Unsworth and "stop defending child rapists."

In their bid for rejection of the case, Musk's lawyers described his insulting remarks against Unsworth as "extravagant" comments in a "schoolyard spit on social media."

They wrote the tweets and the emails were "only imaginative attacks; even if they are offensive, these speculative insults are, by nature, opinion and protected by the First Amendment. "

However, Wilson J. was not convinced and dismissed Musk's request to dismiss the case.