Creator of 3-D printed guns flies to Taiwan amid U.S. sex assault accusation

[webfact]

Creator of 3-D printed guns flies to Taiwan amid U.S. sex assault accusation

By Gina Cherelus

 

Cody Wilson poses with an example of a 3-D printed gun, called the "Liberator," which his company Defense Distributed designs at his factory in Austin, Texas, U.S. August 1, 2018. REUTERS/Kelly West

 

(Reuters) - A Texas man at the centre of a legal battle over his plan to make instructions available for 3-D printed plastic guns flew to Taiwan after learning police in Austin were investigating an accusation he had sex with an underage girl, police said on Wednesday.

 

Cody Wilson, 30, was placed under investigation after a counsellor on Aug. 22 told police that a 16-year-old girl had said she was paid $500 to have sex with Wilson at an Austin hotel, Austin Police Commander Troy Officer said at a news conference.

 

Police later interviewed the girl and on Wednesday obtained a warrant for Wilson's arrest, but by then he had caught a flight to Taiwan, Officer said.

 

"We know Mr. Wilson frequently travels for business. We don't know why he went to Taiwan," Officer said. "But we do know before he left he was informed by a friend of the victim that she had spoken to police and the police were investigating him for having sex with a minor."

 

Taiwan does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.

 

The island's Criminal Investigation Bureau told Reuters on Thursday that it had not received any request on the matter from the United States, and it was not immediately clear whether Wilson was in Taiwan.

 

Wilson founded the group Defense Distributed, which has been selling 3-D firearm-design files on flash drives via regular mail after a U.S. federal judge barred the group from posting the blueprints online.

 

A lawyer for Wilson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

 

In an Aug. 27 interview with police, the teenager said she had exchanged messages with a man using the screen name "Sanjuro" on SugarDaddyMeet.com, according to a police affidavit. The girl said "Sanjuro" later revealed his real name, described himself as a "big deal" and exchanged nude photos with her.The girl said she and Wilson had sex at a local hotel on Aug. 15, according to the document. Her statement was corroborated with security video footage and records showing Wilson registered as a guest at the hotel that night, police said.

 

Wilson sparked a legal battle in 2015 after he challenged a government ban on posting the blueprints for printing 3-D guns to the internet, claiming it infringed on his rights to free speech and to bear arms.

 

The Trump administration earlier this year reached a settlement lifting the ban for Defense Distributed. But 19 states and the District of Columbia challenged that decision in court in July, arguing that publishing the blueprints would allow criminals easy access to unregistered weapons.

 

Last month, U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik in Seattle ordered Wilson not to post blueprints online. Instead, Wilson began selling them by mail, saying the judge's order did not bar him from doing so.

 

(Reporting by Gina Cherelus in New York; additional reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis in Los Angeles and Yimou Lee in TAIPEI; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-09-20

[KMartinHandyman]

Does the meeting website require users to be 18 years old?

[Ralf61]

27 minutes ago, webfact said:

said she was paid $500

Uh, FIVE HUNDRED bucks! Who is the very victim in this case?

 

Maybe Cody should stick with 3D printing his objects of desire.

[Just1Voice]

She had no problem meeting & talking to him online, or meeting him at a hotel for sex, and getting paid $500 for it, but now that he's semi famous, she suddenly come forward.  At 16, she knew exactly what she was doing - selling sex - but now wants a bigger payday.  I wonder how many other men she sold the "snatch" to, as I doubt this man is the first, and only one.

 

[DoctorG]

1 hour ago, Esso49 said:

Hope the Thai Immigration police are on the lookout should he fly on from Taiwan to Thailand

Some people think they are the same country. ?

[Esso49]

25 minutes ago, Just1Voice said:

She had no problem meeting & talking to him online, or meeting him at a hotel for sex, and getting paid $500 for it, but now that he's semi famous, she suddenly come forward.  At 16, she knew exactly what she was doing - selling sex - but now wants a bigger payday.  I wonder how many other men she sold the "snatch" to, as I doubt this man is the first, and only one.

 

Your points are noted but it still does not get away from the fact that he had sex with a minor does it ?

[stevenl]

45 minutes ago, Just1Voice said:

She had no problem meeting & talking to him online, or meeting him at a hotel for sex, and getting paid $500 for it, but now that he's semi famous, she suddenly come forward.  At 16, she knew exactly what she was doing - selling sex - but now wants a bigger payday.  I wonder how many other men she sold the "snatch" to, as I doubt this man is the first, and only one.

 

So don't have sex with a 16 year old.

[mizou198]

12 minutes ago, Esso49 said:

Your points are noted but it still does not get away from the fact that he had sex with a minor does it ?

It does... If she hides her age. 

 

And he didn't forced her to register in a website called SugarDaddyMeet.com. I doubt she didnt understood what does this means..

 

[helpisgood]

51 minutes ago, mizou198 said:

It does... If she hides her age. 

 

And he didn't forced her to register in a website called SugarDaddyMeet.com. I doubt she didnt understood what does this means..

 

I had seemed to recall that, generally, for statutory rape not knowing the minor's age is not an affirmative defense.  I also recalled that sometimes laws in Texas can be a bit different.  So, I looked it up.

 

One criminal defense firm's (Texas) website stated the following:

 

"...a defendant cannot rely on a mistake of age—even a reasonable one—to avoid conviction in Texas. As in most states, mistake of age is not a defense in Texas. (Tex. Penal Code §§ 21.11, 22.011, 22.021 (2018).)"

 

https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/texas-statutory-rape-laws.htm

 

I next found the following Texas statute, Penal Code, Title 5, chapter 21:

 

"Sec. 21.11. INDECENCY WITH A CHILD. (a) A person commits an offense if, with a child younger than 17 years of age, whether the child is of the same or opposite sex and regardless of whether the person knows the age of the child at the time of the offense,...."

 

https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/docs/pe/htm/pe.21.htm

 

So, maybe a quick trip to Taiwan, which the OP states does not have an extradition treaty with the USA, had something to do with this law.  

 

 

Edited September 20, 2018 by helpisgood
deleted mistake

[oldrunner]

Well we now know it didn't happen 35 years ago with the help of a Marriage counselor trying to find out her sterility problem.

[NomadRip]

1 hour ago, stevenl said:

So don't have sex with a 16 year old.

 

Unless you're in Oklahoma or any of the other states where the age of consent is 16. 

 

Definitely wait until they're 17 in Texas.

[car720]

1 hour ago, Esso49 said:

Your points are noted but it still does not get away from the fact that he had sex with a minor does it ?

If she told him she was a minor.  I cannot help asking the same question as the first responder, does the site have an age requirement. 

This whole thing smells to hell of a set up by the US government because of the blueprints.

[Srikcir]

3 hours ago, webfact said:

Taiwan does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.

Yet the US has extradited to China. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-usa-crime/china-hails-first-fugitive-extradition-from-u-s-under-trump-idUSKBN18S4L6

Be interesting if the US requests China for Wilson's extradition. Given the nature of charge against Wilson, Taiwan might do best to 'invite' Wilson to immediately leave Taiwan - for wherever.

[arithai12]

1 hour ago, car720 said:

If she told him she was a minor.  I cannot help asking the same question as the first responder, does the site have an age requirement. 

This whole thing smells to hell of a set up by the US government because of the blueprints.

Not that I have too much sympathy for a guy selling guns, under whatever amendment's principle, but it does resemble Assange's case doesn't it?

[atyclb]

8 hours ago, mizou198 said:

It does... If she hides her age. 

 

And he didn't forced her to register in a website called SugarDaddyMeet.com. I doubt she didnt understood what does this means..

 

 

 

and affiliation with the thailand SugarGrandaddyMeet.com . site ??

[Canuckabroad]

Don’t ever piss off the US government if there are any skeletons in your closet - real or imagined.

[BritManToo]

17 hours ago, Just1Voice said:

At 16, she knew exactly what she was doing - selling sex - but now wants a bigger payday.

More likely some sort of Federal sting operation, involving fake ID.

16 is legal in many countries.

[utalkin2me]

The victim's friend went out of his or her way to tell this guy there was an investigation? That does not make the victim look too credible if true. 

[IAMHERE]

14 hours ago, arithai12 said:

Not that I have too much sympathy for a guy selling guns, under whatever amendment's principle, but it does resemble Assange's case doesn't it?

He didn't sell guns. He sold a 'How to Make a Gun' plans. 

[IAMHERE]

A 16 year old selling her privates isn't a victim, she's a young <deleted>.

[Guitar God]

5 hours ago, BritManToo said:

More likely some sort of Federal sting operation, involving fake ID.

16 is legal in many countries.

A sting, based on no evidence, just feelings, right?

 

Did the government force him to sign up for an account at a site for men wanting to meet young women (or girls in this case) for sex?

 

Seems a lot more likely that Mr. Big Deal got cocky and thought he was above the law and picked the youngest-looking one on the site and got caught. 

 

It was a counselor who reported it, not the girl. 

[BritManToo]

19 minutes ago, Guitar God said:

Did the government force him to sign up for an account at a site for men wanting to meet young women (or girls in this case) for sex?

Shouldn't it be the website that's prosecuted?

As it's for men seeking paid sex with younger women, one assumes they must have some sort of duty to ensure the women are of legal age.

Edited September 21, 2018 by BritManToo

[helpisgood]

2 hours ago, BritManToo said:

Shouldn't it be the website that's prosecuted?

As it's for men seeking paid sex with younger women, one assumes they must have some sort of duty to ensure the women are of legal age.

 

That's a good question!

 

First of all, if the website owners had any brains at all, they would include in the website the right disclaimer to avoid prosecution, e.g., saying that they are only offering opportunities for "dates" and any misrepresentations of age are the participants' responsibility or something like that.      

 

Second, even if the website can be prosecuted, that does not relieve the man at question in the OP,  Mr. Wilson, from criminal prosecution pursuant to the penal code section I have cited in post no. 10 above.  Being misled by the website is not an affirmative defense to such a crime.  Yes, it's a tough law.    

 

Nevertheless, a fair and good question to ask.  Perhaps there is, or should be, some statute(s) or other law that the website could be prosecuted under despite a disclaimer, especially with such a name that has "sugar daddy" in it and maybe some other hints not mentioned in the OP.  

Edited September 21, 2018 by helpisgood
punctuation

[rajput17]

Maybe Cody should stick with 3D printing his objects of desire.

[timendres]

On 9/20/2018 at 3:35 PM, car720 said:

This whole thing smells to hell of a set up by the US government because of the blueprints.

That is what I think is going on here. Let's see her produce the alleged naked photos. Let's see SugarDaddyMeet produce the log files. And let's see evidence of the hotel room booking where the tryst allegedly occurred.

[metisdead]

Off topic posts and the replies have been removed. 

[mizou198]

What seems strange to me in Texas is juveniles could be tried as adults as young as 14, but the age of consent is 17.

 

 

[utalkin2me]

Maybe he should have invented 3D printable prison cell keys. 

[overherebc]

On 9/20/2018 at 1:35 PM, DoctorG said:

Some people think they are the same country. ?

Leave Trump out of this unless he has a programme to print 3D hair.

[Jim1000]

This guy is insane ............