Cody Wilson pleads guilty to lesser charge, will register as a sex offender

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  Cody Wilson (far right) sits in the front row for his first court appearance related to charges of sexual assault against a female minor. [credit: Nathan Mattise ]

AUSTIN, Texas—This morning, almost one year after an initial warrant for his arrest, Cody Wilson stood stoically in the front of Judge Brad Urrutia in the 450th Criminal District Court in Travis County as cameras and a packed gallery watched. The founder and former director of firearms technology company Defense Distributed soon plead guilty to lesser charges stemming from an August 2018 incident with a female minor.

Prior to appearing in court, Wilson and his attorneys, F. Andino Reynal and Joseph Turner, bargained with the state of Texas to amend charges against the 3D-printed gun activist. Instead of sexual assault, Wilson stood accused of injury to a child, a lesser felony than what he originally faced. His guilty plea this morning now comes with a recommended seven-year probation period during which Wilson must register as sex offender.

What brought Wilson to court today

According to court documents, authorities believed Wilson solicited the underage girl from a website called SugarDaddyMeet.com and eventually engaged in sexual acts with her on August 15, 2018. News of the arrest warrant for Wilson broke about a month late as he was out of the country in Taiwan. He seemed to be evading authorities by posing as a US college student, but eventually authorities in the US and Taipei collaborated to apprehend Wilson and bring him back to the US.

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