Printed-gun designer jailed on sex charges

The Texas-based activist who gained international attention for developing and distributing plans for largely untraceable 3D printed guns was extradited to the U.S. from Taiwan to face charges that he sexually assaulted a teenager. Cody Wilson, a “crypto-anarchist” and owner of Defense Distributed, is being held at the Harris County Jail in Houston, following his arrest Friday in Taiwan, court records show. U.S. Marshals brought Wilson, 30, back to Texas to face charges that he paid a girl $500 for sex in Austin, Texas, where he lives. A conviction on the sex-assault charges would bar Wilson from possessing firearms. After a federal court barred Wilson from posting printable gun blueprints online for free last month, he announced he had begun selling them to U.S. customers through his website. The blueprints allow people with 3D printing machines to make their own firearms, which are largely untraceable and not subject to typical gun-sales limitations and requirements.

KELLY WEST/AFP/GETTY IMAGES Cody Wilson, owner of Defense Distributed, was arrested in Taiwan on Friday and extradited to Texas.