Cody Wilson, the innovator of Ghostgunner, a controversial project that allows the public to print their own guns without registration numbers, has made headlines this week for his newest and shocking scandal which involves allegations that he sexually assaulted a minor. The claims and allegations come during an already heated time in the social rebels life; he has been battling scrutiny after a federal judge ruled to block public access to his ghostgun code.
The warrant for Cody Wilson was issued on Sept. 19, 2018. Law Enforcement Agencies are currently unaware of Cody Wilson’s current location. According to the commander of the crime division in Austin, it was stated that Mr. Wilson’s last known location was in Taipei. It was also confirmed that Mr. Wilson missed his scheduled flight back to the US. The Officer went on to state that friends of the alleged victim were in contact with Cody Wilson prior to him leaving the country. The friends of the minor stated that they informed Mr. Wilson that the 16 year old minor had contacted the police.
Other important details to mention include the fact that Cody Wilson had already left the country prior to the warrant being filed against him. While law enforcement officers admit that Mr. Wilson often travels overseas for business, they found the timing of his departure to be “suspicious.” Part of the terms of the warrant include that he relinquish his passport. Another aspect of the warrant required that police photograph Mr. Wilson’s upper leg/groin region to confirm the allegations that he has an identifying mark.
The warrant officially accused Mr. Wilson of having sex with a minor and paying the minor $500 after the two both engaged in sexual intercourse in hotel in Austin, TX. Mr. Wilson allegedly met the minor on a fetish based dating website called SugarDaddyMeet.Com. It is important to note that the website is for adults only. The website offers a paid membership to wealthier members of society and boasts a clientele list of doctors, lawyers, and businessmen. The website offers a safe space for Sugar Daddy and Sugar Baby relationships and dating. The website allows access to member profiles and gives a chat feature.
A brief overview of the website clearly shows that the site has an age restriction. It is important to note that the website does not legally allow a minor to register for the services and it would require that a minor lie about their age. Although the website does not require that members verify their age at all , lying about age in order to qualify for access to the site is a violation of the terms of service which results in a permanent ban.
The warrant claims that Mr. Wilson met the minor on the website and soon after they exchanged numbers and began texting. The warrant goes on to explain that Mr. Wilson sent the 16 year old girl images of his penis and the victim admitted to taking naked photographs of herself and sent them to Mr. Wilson. The allegations state that Mr. Wilson met the minor and drove her to a hotel in his company vehicle. The warrant states that at the hotel sex acts transpired between the two. After the incident at the hotel, Mr. Wilson took the minor to a Whataburger where he dropped her off.
In the warrant, it is stated that Cody Wilson arrogantly boasted that he was “kind of a big deal,” a statement that triggered the minor to research who he was to “learn more about him.”
After realizing Cody Wilson’s true identity, the minor soon reported the incident to a counselor and her parents cooperated in the investigation by allowing the police to have access to her Iphone. It is unclear how friends of the minor were able to gain contact with Cody Wilson.
Although Mr. Wilson has not made any public statements regarding the allegations against him, this could very well be considered another case to challenge the status quo and shake the federal courts up. The warrant does not state if Mr. Wilson was aware of the minors age when the sexual act transpired. The warrant also stated that the Minor knowingly created nude and pornographic images of herself and sent them to Mr. Wilson. It is a federal crime for minors to take naked and sexually explicit photographs of themselves and it can be considered child pornography.
The reality is that Mr. Wilson met the minor on a website that has an 18+ age requirement, this clearly means that the minor lied about her age. This case really brings into question how much consumer responsibility do “for-profit websites” that provide fetish based dating services such as SugarDaddyMeet.com actually have? Could this case set precedent for adult fetish dating websites, like SugarDaddyMeet.com, forcing them to comply with a type of KYC law (Know Your Customer Law) that would require members to verify their full identity before providing them with services.
While in USA citizens are considered innocent until proven guilty, I am curious how this case will unfold. How much of the responsibility lie in the hands of the dating website which facilitated the meeting?