Taiwan | Authorities tracing US gun company owner accused of sex with girl

Cody Wilson, with Defense Distributed, holds a 3D-printed gun called the Liberator at his shop in Austin, Texas

Taiwan said yesterday it is looking for the owner of a Texas company that makes untraceable 3-D printed guns who is wanted on an arrest warrant tied to an accusation that he had sex with an underage girl and paid her USD500 afterward.

The National Immigration Agency and Criminal Investigation Bureau confirmed that Cody Wilson was in Taiwan after arriving on the island earlier this month.

Division Director Kan Yen-min was quoted by the official Central News Agency as saying the bureau has yet to receive intelligence from the U.S. regarding Wilson, but will continue seeking more information about the case.

Taiwan and the U.S. do not have an extradition treaty but cooperate extensively on legal and security matters.

Austin, Texas, police Cmdr. Troy Officer said Wednesday that his department is working with national and international law enforcement agencies to find Wilson, whose last known location was Taiwan’s capital, Taipei.

Officer said it’s unclear why Wilson went to Taiwan, but he is known to travel extensively. He said before Wilson flew there, a friend of the 16-year-old girl informed Wilson that police were investigating the accusation that he had sex with the youth.

Wilson 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. AP