Texan campaigner for 3D-printed guns wanted for sex with minor

WASHINGTON: A Texas man who has played a central role in the US debate over 3D- printed weapons and caused panic by publishing firearm blueprints online is wanted for having sex with a 16-year- old, police said.

Cody Wilson – who is currently in Taiwan according to the island’s authorities – advocates 3D-printed weapons as a bulwark against gun control, but critics warn they give criminals access to untraceable firearms.

“Detectives with the Austin Police Department Organised Crime Division filed a warrant for sexual assault for a Cody Rutledge Wilson, white male, 30 years of age,” Troy Officer, the commander of the division, told journalists. The crime is a seconddegree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison, he said.

The investigation began after a counselor to whom the victim had spoken notified police “that a juvenile female under the age of 17 had reported having sexual contact with a 30-year- old male.”

The victim met Wilson on sugardaddymeet.com, a website that bills itself as the “Best Sugar Daddy Dating Site for Attractive Women and Wealthy Men Seeking Mutually Beneficial Relationships.”

Wilson and the 16-year- old had sex at a hotel, and he paid her US$ 500, said Officer. Detectives “were able to confirm each step of the victim’s story with videotape and interviews,” he said.

Wilson missed a flight back to the US, and police are “working with national and international law enforcement partners to locate him and bring him to justice,” Officer said. He noted that before leaving the US, Wilson was informed by a friend of the victim that she had spoken to police.

Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency said Wilson remains on the island after arriving on Sept 6, adding authorities have ‘an initial grasp of the person’s whereabouts in Taiwan’.

The agency said: “If the US requests judicial assistance, our relevant government agencies will follow up.”

Wilson published downloadable gun blueprints on his website after reaching a deal with President Donald Trump’s administration in June that ended a multi-year effort by the federal government to block him. — AFP