William Rembis filed a lawsuit Friday afternoon against Fox News for $10 million. The lawsuit filed in Lubbock accused Fox of damaging his and his wife’s reputation.
The Rembis family made national news in September when they accused state officials of illegally trying to take their 11 children. A judge in Lubbock later ruled that Children’s Protective Services could retain custody of the 10 younger children. The 11th child was old enough to refuse CPS.
During court proceedings in Lubbock, witnesses testified that they saw the Rembis children eating out of a dumpster and wandering barefoot and unsupervised in an alley.
Days prior to the hearing, Fox News published an article about the Rembis family which was written by the Associated Press.
According to the lawsuit, Rembis emailed Fox News demanding that the article be removed.
The article itself never accused Rembis or his wife of sex crimes, however, the article appeared in category of foxnews.com labeled “sex crimes.”
“My wife and I have never been charged, let alone accused of sexual crimes of any kind,” Rembis wrote in an email to Fox News.
“This is extremely derogatory, highly inflammatory, and entirely baseless.” Rembis wrote. “I demand an immediate, as in today, retraction of this article.”
According to the lawsuit, Fox News did not respond. As of Friday the article remained on foxnews.com under the heading “sex crimes.”
Fox News has not yet filed its side of the story in court records.
EverythingLubbock.com asked if Fox News would like to make a statement in response to the lawsuit. A spokesperson cited pending litigation and declined comment.
