Wilson, arrested on Friday in Taiwan, is charged with a second-degree felony that is punishable by two to 20 years in prison

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Authorities said on Sunday the owner of a Texas company that sells plans to make untraceable 3D printed guns was back in the US, after being arrested in Taiwan.

Gun rights activist Cody Wilson charged with sexual assault of teen Read more

The US Marshals Service said 30-year-old Cody Wilson was booked into Harris county jail in Houston early on Sunday. He was being held on $150,000 bond. It was not clear if he had an attorney.

Wilson is accused of having sex with an underage girl.

According to an affidavit by an Austin police detective filed in Travis county district court on Wednesday, Wilson messaged an underaged girl through the website SugarDaddyMeet.com, had sex with her in an Austin, Texas, hotel on 15 August 2018, and gave her $500.

He was arrested on Friday in Taiwan. Police said he flew there after a friend of the 16-year-old girl told him police were investigating the accusation he had sex with the girl.

Wilson has been charged with a second-degree felony that is punishable by two to 20 years in prison, Commander Troy Officer of the Austin police department’s organized crime division said at a press conference on Wednesday.

Wilson owns Austin-based Defense Distributed, which was selling designs to make 3D-printable guns.

Nineteen states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump administration to dissolve a settlement it reached with the company over allowing it to disseminate its designs for making the weapons. The lawsuit by mostly Democratic state attorneys general argued that such weapons could be used by criminals or terrorists.

A federal court last month barred Wilson from posting the designs online for free. He began selling them for any amount of money to US customers through his website.

Law enforcement officials worry the guns are easy to conceal and are untraceable since there is no requirement for the firearms to have serial numbers. Gun industry experts have said the printed guns are a modern method of legally assembling a firearm at home without serial numbers.

A self-described “crypto-anarchist”, Wilson has said “governments should live in fear of their citizenry”.