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3D-printed gun activist Cody Wilson charged with sexual assault of a minor
The self-described “crypto-anarchist” at the center of the national debate over 3D-printed guns was charged with sexual assault on Wednesday.
According to charging documents, Cody Wilson, 30, paid a girl under 17 years old $500 for sex at a hotel room in Austin, Texas, in August. Sexual assault of a minor is a second-degree felony in Texas.
Austin police say they were alerted by a counselor who had been working with the victim. Detectives with Austin’s Child Abuse division then scheduled an interview at the forensic division of the Center for Child Protection.
Wilson allegedly met the victim on SugarDaddyMeet, a dating platform that matches older men with younger women.
Wilson did not respond to a VICE News request for comment.
Wilson and his company Defense Distributed is currently embroiled in a legal battle over his decision to publish blueprints for 3D-printed guns online.
According to Cody Wilson, the man behind the 3-D printable firearm company Defense Distributed, YouTube has removed a video of his recent press conference announcing the sale of gun blueprints and a fundraiser for his ongoing legal fight over their publication.
As the debate continues about whether or not 3D-printed firearm plans should be banned, even the ostensible pro-2nd Amendment folks are worried that shooting rampages will occur as a result of these plans being published online. But the reality is far different.
A year and a half ago, we wrote about a troubling ruling by the 5th Circuit siding with the US State Department waving a magic "national security" wand to ignore the First Amendment implications of banning the internet distribution of the CAD files for 3D printing components for guns. As we pointed out over five years ago, the hysteria over these 3D printed gun plans was silly. Attempts to ban them from the internet wouldn't just fail, but would actually draw much more attention to them.
The long and short of the Justice Department’s rare and remarkable retreat is that publishing code that can be used to print a weapon capable of firing ammunition is now a constitutionally protected expression of free speech!