Crime & Safety
Plastic Gun Maker Cody Wilson Arrested In Taiwan: Reports
According to Taiwanese media outlets, the man now wanted for having sex with an underage girl was arrested early Friday at a hotel.
AUSTIN, TEXAS — Cody Wilson, the Austin man trying to make printed plastic guns widely available, was arrested in Taiwan on a charge of sexual assault of a child, according to reports.
The Taiwan News reported Wilson was arrested the day after Austin law enforcement officials revealed he was wanted after being accused of paying $500 to have sex with a 16-year-old girl. According to the Taiwan News, a real estate agent alerted police as to Wilson's whereabouts in the Taiwanese capital of Taipei after Wilson, 30, had signed a six-month lease for a studio apartment.
Before signing that lease, Wilson had checked into the luxurious Mandarin Oriental Hotel in the capital city after having left the U.S., according to the Taiwan News. However, reports indicate he left the hotel by taxi to an unknown destination, the news outlet reported.
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Related story: Man At Center Of Plastic Gun Debate Faces Sex Assault Charge
Wilson paid the first month's rent for the apartment in Taiwan along with a deposit on Thursday afternoon, but failed to meet the landlord Friday to take possession of the keys, the Taiwan News reported. The newspaper theorized Wilson may have known by that time he was a wanted man in Taiwan as well.
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Wilson was arrested at a hotel in Wanhua's Guangzhou Street in the evening, according to the Central News Agency. He is now expected to be flown back to the U.S. on the sexual assault charge.
Back home, police this week revealed that Wilson stands accused of having sex with a 16-year-old he met through SugarDaddyMeet.com, a website intended to match older men with younger women.
Wilson gained national prominence for his efforts to publish instructions on the Internet on how to make plastic, 3D guns on printers despite wide opposition to his plans. He was defiant in the face of mounting opposition — including a lawsuit filed by 19 U.S. states seeking to stop his plans — vowing to sell the plans online. Given their untraceable and undetectable nature, plastic guns are seen by many as a threat to the national security.
>>> Top image: Cody Wilson, AP Photo/Eric Gay
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