BRUNSWICK, Ga. -- The family of Christopher Barrios has filed a lawsuit against the cable channel Soapnet.

Last year, a photo of the 6-year-old boy who was killed in 2007 appeared in an episode of the show General Hospital Night Shift.

In the show, he was portraying Billy Dee Williams' long lost son. In the scene, Williams' character received a letter and a photo from a son he supposedly abandoned.

The family did not authorize any use of the picture. Now they're suing Soapnet for using it.

It's been almost a year since Channel 4 showed the video clip to Christopher's grandmother, Sue Rodriguez.

"They ain't got no right doing that. Not a bit of right," Rodriguez said at the time.

Mark Gelman, the family's attorney, said he has spent the last several months trying to get answers from Soapnet and ABC to find out how this happened.

When the picture first appeared, ABC told Channel 4 it was a mistake, and they apologized.

They also produced a series of public service announcements on missing and exploited children they aired on Soapnet in Christopher's honor.

Gelman said he hasn't had much luck getting specific answers from Soapnet on how this happened. By filing an invasion of privacy lawsuit, he said they'll have to answer his questions.

Then, he said, he'll be able to determine if it was a just an honest mistake like the television station claims it was.