3-D gun promoter arrested in Taiwan over assault charge
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Authorities in Taiwan arrested the owner of a Texas company that sells plans to make untraceable 3-D printed guns who is wanted in the U.S. over an accusation that he had sex with an underage girl and paid her $500 afterward, official media reported.
The Central News Agency said Taiwanese police found and arrested Cody Wilson in a hotel in Taipei on Friday evening.
The state-owned news agency reported Friday that a real estate agent who had seen local news stories about the sexual assault charge told police that Wilson paid a deposit on an apartment Wednesday. Wilson was arrested by officers with the Criminal Investigation Bureau at a hotel in Wanhua, according to the report.
The Taiwanese news agency said the island’s immigration department would make arrangements for Wilson to return to the U.S. as soon as possible.
Taiwan and the United States do not have an extradition treaty but have agreed to provide mutual legal assistance in criminal matters.
Police in Austin, Texas, had earlier reported that Wilson’s last known location was Taipei. He had not been charged when he went to Taiwan, so he is not considered to have fled the country.
Austin police Cmdr. Troy Officer said Wednesday that before Wilson flew to Taiwan, a friend of the 16-year-old girl had told him that police were investigating the accusation that he had sex with the youth.
Darren Sartin, supervisory deputy U.S. marshal, said Friday that the agency is aware of Wilson’s arrest and is “engaged” with international partners.
In a court filing this week, Wilson was accused of having sex with the girl at an Austin hotel last month. A counselor for the teenager reported the accusation to Austin police a week later, according to the affidavit. Wilson met the girl through the website SugarDaddyMeet.com, where she had created an online profile, according to the document.
The girl, according to the affidavit, said they met in the parking lot of an Austin coffee shop before they drove to the hotel. The girl told investigators that Wilson paid her $500 after they had sex and then dropped her off at a Whataburger restaurant.
Wilson could be blocked from owning a firearm for life if convicted, legal experts said. He faces a sentence of up to 20 years, Austin officials said Wednesday.
Wilson, who was born in Little Rock, is identified in the affidavit as the owner of Austin-based Defense Distributed. After a federal court barred Wilson from posting the printable gun blueprints online for free last month, he announced he had begun selling them for any amount of money to U.S. customers through his website.
Nineteen states and the District of Columbia sued to stop an agreement that the government reached with Defense Distributed, arguing that the blueprints for how to print plastic guns could be obtained by felons or terrorists.
Law enforcement officials worry the guns are easy to conceal and are untraceable since there’s no requirement for the firearms to have serial numbers. Gun industry experts have said the printed guns are a modern method of legally assembling a firearm at home without serial numbers.
Josh Blackman, Wilson’s lawyer in the 3-D guns lawsuit, declined to comment on how the case might be affected by the sexual assault charge.
Sharon Lauchaire, a spokesman for New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, said in an email that he and the other attorneys general plan to carry on with their case.
“Regardless of Wilson’s arrest, we will continue fighting to protect our residents and law enforcement officers from the spread of 3-D guns and to ensure compliance with the court orders issued in these cases,” she said.