Cody Wilson, the gun enthusiast who has been the center of national debate over 3-D printed guns, was arrested in Taiwan Friday after being charged with sexual assault in Texas, according to Taiwan News.

Wilson, who missed his flight home from Taipei, Taiwan on Wednesday, was wanted by Texas authorities for allegedly sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl. The girl said in an interview last month that she met Wilson on SugarDaddyMeet.com, and the two exchanged nude photographs before meeting in person. http://gty.im/1009245364 http://gty.im/1009245364 http://gty.im/1009245364

A very detailed affidavit for arrest warrant in Travis County, Texas, alleges 3D printed gun blueprints maker Cody Wilson met a 17-year-old girl through https://t.co/05fQkknZiI, and they had sex in an Austin hotel. pic.twitter.com/pK8aTt6haH — Steve Dorsey (@steve_dorsey) September 19, 2018

In late August, a federal judge blocked Wilson from sharing blueprints for 3-D printed firearms online. Attorneys general from 19 states and Washington, D.C. had filed suit, claiming that the weapons would increase gun violence across the county. The decision came after the federal government reversed course under Trump and settled Wilson’s lawsuit, allowing his Texas-based company, Defense Distributed, to post the blueprints on the internet on August 1st.


When he first posted the blueprints online in 2013, they were downloaded roughly 100,000 times before the State Department ordered him to stop.

Despite the August order blocking Wilson from posting the blueprints, he has continued sharing them anyway. Instead of publishing them on the internet for free, Wilson said he would comply with the court order by selling copies of his 3D-printed gun files for a “suggested price” of $10 each, according to Ars Technica.

Gun control advocates claim that unlike traditional guns, 3D-printed guns can be obtained without a background check, can’t be identified by metal detectors, and do not have serial numbers that can be traced by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms. The Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, Everytown for Gun Safety, and the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence have said the blueprints will allow criminals, terrorists, and other people legally prevented from purchasing guns under current law to get their hands on weapons.

Wilson has shrugged off concerns that the weapons, which can be made at home, could be used to inflict violence.

“I literally believe in the Second Amendment, to the point that it’s alright and it should be expected that there will be social costs for protecting a right like this,” he said in an interview with Fox News Sunday. “Why is the people’s right to keep and bear arms on the Bill of Rights? Why is it even protected? Because we know that there are downsides and that there are consequences to allowing free people to own the means of self defense. Of course we should expect and have a mature attitude that bad things can happen.”


Wilson is also a supporter of pro-gun candidates. He has contributed thousands of dollars to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX)’s campaign for reelection — a race that the Cook Political Report called a toss-up on Friday. Representatives for Cruz’s campaign did not respond to ThinkProgress’ inquiry about whether they plan to return the contributions from Wilson.