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3D-Printed Gun Activist Cody Wilson Charged With Sexual Assault, Misses Flight Back From Taiwan
3-D Printed Gun Promoter, Cody Wilson, Is Charged With Sexual Assault of Child (archive)
Cody Wilson, whose push to post blueprints for 3-D printed guns online has made him a key figure in the national gun control debate, was charged on Wednesday with sexually assaulting a child in Texas.
But law enforcement officers said they were having trouble finding Mr. Wilson, who missed a flight back to the United States from Taipei, Taiwan, his last known location. During a news conference on Wednesday, Cmdr. Troy Officer of the Austin Police Department said that a warrant had been filed for Mr. Wilson's arrest and that local detectives were working with national and international partners to find him.
Mr. Wilson, 30, is accused of having sex with a 16-year-old girl at a hotel in Austin on Aug. 15 and paying her $500 in cash, according to an affidavit filed in Travis County. The girl told the police that she had met Mr. Wilson through the website SugarDaddyMeet.com, where he was using the screen name "Sanjuro," the affidavit says.
[...] She and Mr. Wilson, who identified himself to the girl, exchanged phone numbers and then continued messaging each other, sharing at least one explicit photo apiece, according to the affidavit. During one conversation, Mr. Wilson described himself as a "big deal," the affidavit says.
[...] Neither Mr. Wilson nor his lawyer in the sexual assault case responded to a request for comment. The Austin police said a friend of the victim had told Mr. Wilson before he left for Taiwan that he was under investigation.
Taiwan does not have an extradition treaty with the United States.
Looks like someone else will have to take on the job of defending file sharing in court.
Previously: [Updated] Defense Distributed Releasing Gun Plans, President Trump "Looking Into" It
Federal Judge Imposes Preliminary Injunction Against Defense Distributed's DEFCAD
3D Gun File Downloads Blocked; Selling Begins Instead
3-D gun entrepreneur Cody Wilson accused of paying for sex with underage girl, authorities say
From the Washington Post come this: https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2018/09/19/d-gun-entrepreneur-cody-wilson-accused-paying-sex-with-underage-girl-authorities-say/?utm_term=.492c764a26d9
Cody Wilson, a 3-D gunmaker who has become embroiled in a national debate about "downloadable" firearms, has been accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl, according to court documents.
Authorities said Wilson, 30, paid the teenager $500 for sex in a hotel last month in Austin after the two met on a dating website, according to an arrest warrant affidavit that was filed Wednesday in district court in Travis County, Tex. Wilson faces a charge of sexual assault, a second-degree felony, according to the court documents.
A spokeswoman with the Austin Police Department said Wilson has not been arrested. It is unclear why authorities are charging him with sexual assault and whether he has an attorney.
I submit this story because it has to do with certain rights. Not who is right.
Related Stories
Trump says public availability of 3D-printed guns 'doesn't seem to make much sense'
President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he is "looking into" the availability of plans for the 3D printing of guns, writing on Twitter that he had already been in touch with the NRA on the issue.
"I am looking into 3-D Plastic Guns being sold to the public. Already spoke to NRA, doesn't seem to make much sense!" the president wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning.
After a years-long legal battle, Defense Distributed, a Texas-based group, has announced plans to release instructions on Wednesday for guns that can be created by a 3-D printer, including a handgun and parts for a semi-automatic assault rifle. Although plans were not supposed to be available until Wednesday, instructions have already begun to appear online for download, CNN reported Tuesday.
Judge allows temporary ban on 3D-printed gun files to continue
A federal judge in Seattle has ruled against Defense Distributed, imposing a preliminary injunction requiring the company to keep its 3D-printed gun files offline for now.
US District Judge Robert Lasnik found in his Monday ruling that the plaintiffs were likely to succeed based on their argument that the Department of State, in allowing for a modification of federal export law, had unwittingly run afoul of a different law, the Administrative Procedure Act. In essence, the judge found that because the Department of State did not formally notify Congress when it modified the United States Munitions List, the previous legal settlement that Defense Distributed struck with the Department of State—which allowed publication of the files—is invalid.
As Ars has reported, Defense Distributed is the Texas-based company involved in a years-long lawsuit with the Department of State over publication of those files and making them available to foreigners. The company runs DEFCAD, perhaps the best-known online repository of gun files.
[...] Judge Lasnik's ruling today only briefly addressed the fact that the files are already available on numerous sites, including Github, The Pirate Bay, and more. These files have circulated online since their original publication back in 2013. (Recently, new mirrors of the files have begun to pop up.) "It is not clear how available the nine files are: the possibility that a cybernaut with a BitTorrent protocol will be able to find a file in the dark or remote recesses of the Internet does not make the posting to Defense Distributed's site harmless," he wrote.
Will legalnauts with gavels smack down this injunction?
Previously: Landmark Legal Shift for 3D-Printed Guns
[Updated] Defense Distributed Releasing Gun Plans, President Trump "Looking Into" It
Related: The $1,200 Machine That Lets Anyone Make a Metal Gun at Home
FedEx Refuses to Ship Defense Distributed's Ghost Gunner CNC Mill
After being enjoined from distributing 3D CAD Files of firearms from his website, DEFCAD.com, Cody Wilson announces plans to sell the files for any chosen price.
In other words: If he can't be the "Napster" of crypto-guns, he'll be the "iTunes," Wilson told reporters at a press conference Tuesday in Austin.
...
Josh Blackman, Wilson's lawyer, said in an interview Tuesday that selling the blueprints directly to people within the United States is perfectly legal."It's not about distribution, it's about posting them," Blackman said. "There's no prohibition on distributing these files — the prohibition is on doing it in a way that foreign persons can access."
Also at The Register, BBC, and Ars Technica.
Previously: Federal Judge Imposes Preliminary Injunction Against Defense Distributed's DEFCAD
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:26PM (2 children)
SugarDaddyMeet.com, eh? Thanks!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:33PM
Watch out for the fickle sugar baby snitches.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:12PM
Don't you mean: SugarDaddyMeat.com ?
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 5, Informative) by ikanreed on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:33PM (70 children)
Uh. Let's be more explicit. He is charged with hiring a goddamn child prostitute, who has likely been enslaved into that lifestyle*.
And his "activism" isn't limited to 3d printable handguns that will backfire the tenth time you fire them, injuring you horribly. He's also responsible for the site called "hatereon" which is like patreon, but for Nazis** banned from patreon.
The guy's a scumfuck.
*Please note that accurately describing the severity of the charges does not mean I reject "innocent until proven guilty" or any of the other 500 strawmen his political affiliation will warrant.
**I am not hearing arguments about everyone I disagree with being nazis at this time, sorry if you like some fucking nazis, I don't care
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:41PM (31 children)
I tried to fit "of a minor" in the headline, but I felt like mentioning Taiwan was the more important detail. Reminds me of the Snowden days, except Hong Kong apparently has an extradition agreement with the U.S. and Taiwan doesn't.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:50PM (30 children)
You assume he is still there or plans to stay there. I suspect its easier to vanish from there and get to a more "friendly" country than it would have been in the US.
(Score: 3, Informative) by takyon on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:57PM (3 children)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extradition_law_in_the_United_States#International_extradition [wikipedia.org]
What's your dream extradition-less destination? Taiwan seems better than many of the options.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:10PM (2 children)
What makes you think Taiwan will let him stay?
Also, funny how people who have been annoyances to the government end up being accused of sexcrime.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:47PM
He recently got a cash infusion from donations and flash drive sales. A little money in the right hands could help him.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 5, Insightful) by MostCynical on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:57PM
Either: the kind of men who do the sorts of things Cody does (lets call it "pushing boundaries" as a simple catch-all) will also be the sort of driven, narcissistic asshole who gets his jollies in "unconventional" ways.
Additionally, ego-driven people often get away with things others wouldn't , just by being brazen, so may be less likely to hide their tracks or be discrete.
Also, people who do what Cody does (bait governments) are likely to have people "examining" their lives, and monitoring them, if not tailing them.
Wave flag (even a white one), draw fire.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:10PM (25 children)
Snowden found a home. Assange would have found a home, if he could just get to it. Cody? I think you'll have a hard time finding any country which would welcome him. The man is as much anti-government as anything. Most of the world, whether first or third world, opposes the free distribution of weapons, especially weapons that they cannot track and control. Various people will describe the man in various ways, but I suspect that governments will almost universally view him as an "undesirable". Some nation might offer him a temporary shelter, for the purpose of milking him for everything he knows. Then, that nation will abandon him. Maybe not extradite him, but set him up for an abduction by some team friendly to the CIA.
Cody is pretty much on his own - unless, as one of the posts above suggests, he's a genuine Nazi, with contacts to hide him.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:22PM (14 children)
Anarchist? (crypto-anarchist)
What that seems to mean is someone who doesn't believe in law, or thinks they are above the law, or not subject to the law, can do anything they want to anyone they want. Gee, sometimes that sounds familiar around here. Didn't he understand his contracts in advance of his interactions? And he paid her $500, so it should be all okay, right? That will surely make up for her innocence. If you've never been the parent of one who was once 16, you probably don't get it.
For some reason I think of what JFK said:
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:40PM (4 children)
If your argument relies on emotional appeals and subjective terms like "innocence," then you have nothing.
You may as well be talking about the "innocence" of an 18 year old, and how anyone who has never been the parent of such a person probably doesn't get it. It's a completely arbitrary line.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:50PM (2 children)
https://www.newsweek.com/hatreon-alt-right-richard-spencer-andrew-anglin-white-nationalism-white-644546 [newsweek.com]
I suppose that if Wilson describes himself as an anarchist, then he may be an anarchist.
Seriously, I've not followed him, or his career, or his politics. I was only aware of his 3D tech, until now.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by driverless on Friday September 21 2018, @07:41AM (1 child)
Another point that no-one's mentioned so far: Isn't it convenient that a major PITA for the government, that they can't seem to silence or get rid of, is caught doing something that makes it very easy to get rid of him? I'm not saying it was a setup or not, but it is remarkably convenient for the government that this came up right about now.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @04:15PM
It does seem convenient.
Also, I think the charge of "sexual assault" seems pretty trumped up given that they seemed to be pretty amiable afterward.
"Solicitation of a minor prostitute" just doesn't get the hate flowing enough?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @03:59AM
Well, where else would you draw the line? Clearly having sex with a 4 year old isn't OK and having sex with a 30 year old seems alright. There is no point in between that couldn't be fudged a bit one way or the other without the world falling a part. 18 is typically the age chose for a good number of things and is probably somewhat on the low side, but there you go.
(Score: 2, Redundant) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:43PM (8 children)
I won't tag him as an anarchist. I'm getting curious about him, because previous links suggest he's Nazi. Of course, that accusation is thrown about for anyone and everyone who doesn't toe the Progressive line. Trump, me, TMB, all "literally Hitler".
By "anti government", I mean, something along the lines of myself, and others, who have denounced various activities that our government engages in. We know that congress has gone far beyond the scope of the law regarding "interstate commerce", and infringed on states rights, as well as citizen's rights with their "interpretations". Thus, I am "anti government".
I happen to agree that Wilson's aims to circumvent government's control over guns and other weapons is a "good thing". Again that makes me "anti government".
I am certainly not an anarchist, though. I recognize that a lot of laws are necessary to make life go 'round. I only become "anti" when government tramples on the rights of it's constituents.
(Score: 4, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:55PM (3 children)
I seem to remember Hillary was called a Nazi. (Don't know where, most likely Fox News.)
So being a Nazi would be something Trump and Hillary have in common I suppose.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:24PM (2 children)
I heard on the radio that leftists are harvesting the organs of millions of children.
(Score: 2, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:47PM
Something got crossed up, that should read,
Harvesting the left organs of millions of children (the right organs are sacred, dontcha know?)
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Monday September 24 2018, @05:29PM
ISPs and Mobile phone companies are also harvesting the organs if ISPs. "pro-business" Republicans think this is fine. So therefore they should think it is fine for the Democrats to harvest childrens' organs.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by DannyB on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:01PM
I don't agree with everything our government does. In some cases I strongly disagree. But I am not against having a peacefully elected government -- even if it seems to be falling apart.
I think most probably agree congress is broken, perhaps beyond repair. Because those who can fix it have no interest, even a negative incentive to fix it. There needs to be less corruption in government, or more opportunity to participate in the corruption.
IMO wanting to
lessonlessen government's control over firearms does not make one anti-government. It's just another example of disagreeing with government policy. Something we still have a right to do at present.To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @12:02AM
Nice to see you just come out and admit it, Runaway! Hope you feel better, now.
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday September 21 2018, @06:05PM (1 child)
Of course, that accusation is thrown about for anyone and everyone who doesn't toe the Progressive line. Trump, me, TMB, all "literally Hitler".
Hitlery [soylentnews.org] [soylentnews.org]
Hitlery [soylentnews.org] [soylentnews.org]
Hitlery [soylentnews.org] [soylentnews.org]
Hitlery [soylentnews.org] [soylentnews.org]
Hitlery [soylentnews.org] [soylentnews.org]
4 out of 5 of these are you, Mr. Victim.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday September 21 2018, @10:23PM
I'm not even clicking. Hitlery is Hitlery. I've accused no other person, left or right, of being "literally Hitler". Maybe I should challenge you on that. Find any other person to whom I've referred as Nazi. I've referred to some as fascists. I've mocked many. I've cited the CTRL-LEFT a few times, since someone else coined the phrase. Hitlery is in a class all by herself. And, if you were ever to understand and to admit that Hillary Clinton was just about the worst possible choice that the Dems could have selected as their candidate, your apparent IQ would shoot up to near normal.
Note, that there really are a few possible choices worse than Clinton. But, you can count them on your fingers, and add maybe a couple of toes. THAT is how nearly half of America feels about your Hitlery.
(Score: 5, Informative) by Thexalon on Friday September 21 2018, @12:17AM (9 children)
Here's the interesting thing: Every time I've encountered a person who's thoroughly anti-government, to the point where they want everyone to get guns and start killing off government people, I've found them to be someone who's doing stuff I don't think they shouldn't be doing. Hiring minors for sex is something that I don't think anyone should be doing, because as GP points out that odds are good that the teenager in question is effectively a slave and I believe slavery is wrong.
Consider me part of that. Free distribution of weapons means the most powerful weapons are attracted to those who most want to use them. And the people who most want to use weapons aren't the guys who like popping off a few rounds at the range, but the guys who want to murder people, and I believe murder is wrong. Also, some of the folks who want to murder people are likely to be crazy as all get-out, the sort that would murder their parents thinking they're secret agents or something.
It's possible to be a good guy with a gun. I know some of them. They aren't opposed to having guns tracked and controlled, in large part because they aren't doing anything that would get them in trouble if the government knows everything about their guns.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Friday September 21 2018, @12:21AM
Free distribution of information. If that information is used to 3D print or mill a working gun, so be it. If it's used to fill a bit of hard drive space or to print a poster of a 3D gun model, that's fine too.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Offtopic) by Runaway1956 on Friday September 21 2018, @12:27AM (4 children)
I really don't know if they have discovered a cure for hoplophobia, which isn't worse than the disease itself. Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia, Red China, and others have attempted to find cures for hoplophobia, but they have all ended poorly.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday September 21 2018, @03:48PM (3 children)
Ah yes, "hoplophobia". Where does that appear in the DSM? Oh, right, it doesn't, mostly because fear of things that could easily kill you isn't irrational.
1. Let's say you had someone pointing a loaded gun at you, decent stance, finger on the trigger. Are you at all concerned that they'll shoot you? I certainly would be: Even if they didn't want to shoot me, accidents happen, and of course if they did decide they wanted to shoot me I'm now quite possibly dead and at the very least crippled for a while and possibly for the rest of my life.
2. Now, if I haven't verified myself that a gun isn't loaded, I'm going to assume it is, as every gun safety instructor in the country will teach me to do. Ergo, it is rational for me to treat any random gun pointed in my direction as a lethal threat.
3. If I encounter somebody who can very quickly get to a gun and point it at me, that person is under 1 second from being a lethal threat to me. So yeah, I'm going to be paying attention to that person, and it's rational for me to do so.
I also consider it relevant that the organization in the US that you'd think would be pretty comfortable with weapons, namely the military, goes to great lengths to keep their guns under strict controls. It's almost like they think they're dangerous or something.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday September 21 2018, @10:33PM (2 children)
1. is assault with a deadly weapon. You are entirely within your rights to shoot to kill, before he pulls the trigger.
2. no weapon is ever unloaded. If Jesus Christ, Mohammed, Zeus, and Buddha call you into a room, hand you a weapon, and assure you that it is not loaded - you know they are liars, and that you've got to check it for yourself.
3. don't annoy anyone who might be armed. Which is "anybody".
4. Yessss - the officers want to ensure that all weapons within range of their facilities are under their control. That's kinda what the word "military" is all about. Soldiers and sailors aren't necessarily "comfortable" with weapons. They understand weapons, and they know how to use weapons. That doesn't imply "comfort". As part of my cross rate training, I learned some of the basics of stoking a boiler. NO ONE in the boiler room is "comfortable", but the boiler room crew can give you 30+ knots from a standstill with only a couple minutes' warning.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday September 21 2018, @11:28PM (1 child)
Which means, incidentally, that I rationally feared for my life, which was precisely the point I was making. Calling it a "phobia" is making it into an *irrational* fear for my life, which you just admitted isn't the case.
And in that situation, I may be within my legal rights to shoot to kill, but that doesn't mean I'll be able to. The basic story of gun combat at relatively short range is that the person with their gun in a position to fire first wins. For example, if I'm facing an armed attacker with their weapon drawn and pointed at me, my best bet is to do whatever they say or beat feet, even if I have a gun at hand. The reason is simple: Human reaction time is 0.2 seconds or so for the bad guy to see my move and/or my weapon, add maybe 0.1 seconds for the bad guy to squeeze the trigger, and I may be a quick draw but to beat that I'd have to be faster than all but the fastest professional shooters - from what I can gather more typical times are about 1.0-1.5 seconds, at which point I'm already dead.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Runaway1956 on Saturday September 22 2018, @01:00AM
The hoplophobia which infects so much of the world today is irrational. The media works hard to drum up the fear of weapons, to induce people to voluntarily give up their weapons. They work just as hard to instill trust in the police, to lull you into a sense of security, thereby aiding you in voluntarily giving up your weapons. But - eventually, when almost no one has weapons, we'll be reminded to how that worked out in China, the USSR, and Cambodia, not to mention a dozen other third world countries.
Which is worse - a few dozen dead, now and then, or a few hundred on rare occassions, or, several million, because no one can defend himself?
When the dead are counted in tens of millions, people will be wishing that they still had the option of purchasing their own weapons. But, history does repeat itself - again and again.
Live free, or die.
(Score: 3, Informative) by hemocyanin on Friday September 21 2018, @12:50AM
I find it hard to believe she was a slave. No slave master would have set her free with a mental health because of the high likelihood that the counselor would alert authorities, as happened here.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @07:54AM (1 child)
Mind if I browse your bank records? Tax evasion results in starving children, so it’s something I’m against. All my friends agree that tax evasion is bad and they support anyone going through their records because they have nothing to hide.
(Score: 2) by Thexalon on Friday September 21 2018, @01:52PM
1. Tax evasion mostly results in slightly higher interest rates for US treasury bonds. It doesn't actually lead to starving children.
2. Sure, as long as you don't get the account and routing numbers. You'd find that I earn what the IRS thinks I earn, that I pay the taxes owed promptly, and the expenses utterly boring.
The only thing that stops a bad guy with a compiler is a good guy with a compiler.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:55PM (2 children)
The way you've phrased that indicates you consider the cornerstone of the legal system, the presumption of innocence, to be a straw-man argument.
Would you care to elaborate? I doubt you meant it that way.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by ikanreed on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:57PM (1 child)
The strawman argument that I'm used to and expecting is this: because I find, from what I've heard, it very likely that this douche is hyper-guilty, that I don't believe in the principle of a fair and speedy trial, and would not give him one.
This is an accusation about people's beliefs that only comes up in the context of rapists.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:17PM
That's probably because people seem more likely to believe that an accused rapist is guilty, even before a trial ever occurs or evidence is ever discovered.
And while guilty-until-proven-innocent-in-the-public-square types might still be in favor of a fair and speedy trial, destroying someone's life based on mere accusations is still bad.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by shortscreen on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:00PM (8 children)
Maybe your footnote could have explained why you think the underage girl was enslaved.
(Score: 4, Informative) by ikanreed on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:10PM (7 children)
This is a bit complicated, and depends on assumptions I cannot prove.
The presumption comes from the whole "sugar daddy" site thing. A huge percentage of prostitution now lives under that name. Fairly explicitly. And with underage prostitution, a lot(but obviously, given the nature of the crime, it's impossible to assess exactly how much) of it comes from young girls who get caught up into some kind of exploitive relationship, often with older men, where they're pressured to bring in money this way, and threatened with punishment if they don't. Usually it's runaways threatened with being kicked out, or illegal immigrants threatened with reporting to the authorities.
Young girls sometimes choose that kind of life for themselves, but it's not terribly common. Surveys of older "voluntary" prostitutes find that fairly often they get pressured into the lifestyle that way young, and in adulthood, see no other options anymore. It's really fucking sad.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:15PM
Thank the black market and puritanical morons for that.
But unless Wilson was the one who forced her into that lifestyle, her circumstances aren't really relevant to him. And it sounds like he wasn't even necessarily aware of her age, but who knows. Not that that would matter in our awful legal system, anyway.
(Score: 5, Informative) by anotherblackhat on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:48PM (2 children)
As opposed to all those underage old women?
The best estimate I've seen for underage girls who are prostitutes by force or coercion is 8% - too high IMO, but still a minority of the cases.
Do you think the police arrested "the victim"?
(Score: 2) by ikanreed on Friday September 21 2018, @03:53PM (1 child)
Cutting phrases off sentences to make it sound like other people are stating tautologies is A+ good argumentation and not at all really fucking annoying and dumb.
(Score: 2) by anotherblackhat on Friday September 21 2018, @08:17PM
A tautology is true. I'm claiming you posted a lie.
Most prostitutes choose the profession.
Most underage prostitutes choose the profession.
Most underage female prostitutes choose the profession.
(Score: 5, Informative) by hemocyanin on Friday September 21 2018, @12:55AM (2 children)
No master would let a slave engage in private counseling sessions. This all started when a counselor the girl saw reported the incident to police. Given that it is well known that counselors are mandatory reporters, any reasonably qualified slave-master would expect to counseling sessions to get him or her busted.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @02:34PM (1 child)
It all makes sense now.
The social worker wants their 15 minutes on the nightly news, and is selling out the girls mental health to get it. The girls trauma to date, is nothing compared to what the media circus is going to do to her. So no matter how you look at it, there is malpractice.
Or perhaps the "counseler" is on an agency payroll as a recruiter? Did the girl ever spend any time in an INS concentration camp?
Overall I think the message here to young women is: "Get rich and famous by becoming a tart."
Nice work "counselor".
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @03:51PM
2 words: "Mandatory Reporting"
A "counselor" is not a lawyer or a priest; not going to jail is all the motive they need to rat out their clients.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Gaaark on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:05PM (4 children)
I'm wondering if they just re-enacted the Assange 'sexual assault.whatever' with this guy.
Are they getting lazy with their charges?
"Meh, let's just say he ordered the same 'pizza' as Assange and Bob's your uncle: he can be arrested if we can get him extradited... if not, we just ruin his life...for life!......so yeah....meh."
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Captival on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:17PM (1 child)
I would be a little suspicious that anyone hiring child prostitutes is going to give them his real name, upon which she immediately sprints over to the police department to tell them all about it.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @07:44AM
Under normal circumstances no names are exchanged, preferably no phone number and payment is in cash.
Guess why.
(Score: 3, Touché) by c0lo on Friday September 21 2018, @03:29AM (1 child)
Before exploring the analogy further, a quick check... does Ecuador have embassy in Taiwan?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday September 21 2018, @02:48PM
I was under the impression there are a lot of countries Taiwan doesn't have official diplomatic ties with, because China gets pissy at you if you do.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:09PM (2 children)
Is 16 underage in Texas? AFAIK 16 is the age of consent in most of the US. It's quite a bit of a stretch to label it as "child prostitution". Your "likely has been enslaved" needs a great many citations as well. The majority of prostitutes don't have pimps.
(Score: 2) by RS3 on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:41PM (1 child)
Many of USA states' age of consent is 16. Texas is 17.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ages_of_consent_in_North_America [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 3, Informative) by anotherblackhat on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:34PM
Age of consent in Texas is 17 and there's a close in age exemption, but the age of consent to prostitution seems to be 18. (source https://statelaws.findlaw.com/texas-law/texas-prostitution-laws.html [findlaw.com])
So if she fucked her 19 year old boyfriend that would be legal, but if he gave her gas money afterward, then it's a felony.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:52PM (14 children)
"The guy's a scumfuck."
.
Fuck you and your "guilty until proven innocent" idiocy.
Who the fuck are you to judge this guy ? You're NOBODY, that's who.
Make sure that you remember that.
(Score: 5, Informative) by DannyB on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:06PM (13 children)
A news article I read about it yesterday seemed pretty damning. The hotel the girl claimed to go to had surveillance footage of Wilson and the girl arriving, getting in the elevator, and getting off at the {I forgot} floor -- the same floor on which Willson was the exclusive renter of a room. They arrived in a vehicle identical to a vehicle (some Ford pick off truck IIRC) registered to Willson's business. Later they left together. She claims he dropper her off at "what-a-burger"??
Now there has not been a trial. But if there is even more evidence, I can begin to speculate how a trial would go. Without believing in guilty until proven innocent. I would be happy to hear him proclaim his innocence and evidence of why. He may yet do so.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:20PM (5 children)
Whatever the case, I hope a juror who knows about jury nullification makes it through and makes good use of it. These statutory rape cases where someone is caught on a stupid technicality are an injustice. Not that he's not an idiot for doing this when he's in the public eye, but still.
(Score: -1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @12:25AM (4 children)
Found the Pedobear!
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @01:36AM (2 children)
Found the idiot. She was 16, and thus it does not even remotely qualify as pedophilia.
(Score: 0, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @05:20AM
Lifetime subscriber to "Not Even Barely Legal", are we, Mr. Pedobear?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @02:45PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ephebophilia [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 21 2018, @02:02AM
Yes. Exactly. He is happy for creeps to have sex with OTHER PEOPLE's minor children.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Runaway1956 on Friday September 21 2018, @12:56AM
Yeah, What-a-Burger. It's a chain of burger places in Texas. IMO, they make pretty good burgers, but Texans overhype them some. Like most things Texas, Texans are partial to them. On a scale where McDonald's rates a 1, Burger King rates a 1.5 or 2.0, Wendy's rates 2.5 or 3, and many local custard stands rate 4 or 5 - What-a-Burger would get a 4. It's still "fast food", but they use fairly high quality ingredients.
I know I've left someone out of this ranking scheme. I'll just mention that if your restaurant merits higher than 5 for it's burgers, you probably don't compete for the same audience as McDonald's.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday September 21 2018, @01:00AM (3 children)
I heard that too but have seen no footage. Till then, only a media noob would take it at face value.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 21 2018, @02:10PM (2 children)
I did read it from a major news outlet which in my view gives it a bit more credibility than "I read it on the internet so it MUST be true!"
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2) by hemocyanin on Friday September 21 2018, @02:38PM (1 child)
Kind of like how the NY Times published lies to help start the Iraq war.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 21 2018, @05:15PM
Where I read it, nor this site is a court of law. So we will see how it all plays out.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @11:35AM (1 child)
All that "evidence" you mention doesn't fit an assault crime / rape. It's "sexual" assault, so there probably doesn't have to be much assault to get labelled that way, but with all the evidence you mention, it seems it was consensual. The only problem is her age. I myself suck hard at guessing ages correctly, especially the 12-20 age range it seems I'm as good at guessing as a random generator, probably even worse.
He may be a douche, an asshole or whatever. But I have a problem with putting all blame solely on him for not being able to correctly guess ages.
I can picture it already, it's a movie setting, the sun is setting on an idyllic beach terrace and the two main characters look each other warmly in the eyes. They get closer and just before they're mouths touch each other:
MAN: hold on:
How old are you?
WOMEN: I'm 22.
MAN: Please show me your ID card so I can verify it.
WOMEN: What? You don't trust me?
MAN: I've got to be sure, cause all responsibility apparently falls on me.
WOMEN: This is bullshit, I can decide things for myself.
Here's my ID, happy now?!!
MAN: Good, euhm.
Can you also sign this contract that we're about to have consensual sex?
WOMEN: What? A fucking contract? Fuck you, I'm leaving ...
End of movie scene.
Seems like a enrichment for the movie no?
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 21 2018, @02:13PM
Can you sign this contract and I'll pay you $130,000.00.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:57PM (1 child)
In most US states (and all of Canada), consensual sex with 16-year-olds* is legal.
*Please note that conflating 16-year-olds with actual children is dishonest and unhelpful.
(Score: 5, Informative) by takyon on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:20PM
That is true, but there are some notable exceptions, some of them being big states [wikipedia.org]:
New York, Texas, California, and Florida are the four largest states by population. You may remember that Asia Argento [soylentnews.org] recently [soylentnews.org] got slammed for allegedly violating California's age of consent law.
Now I'll proceed to add up the populations [wikipedia.org] (July 1, 2017 estimates) for each:
Age of consent at 16 (includes D.C.) = 146,493,062
17 = 80,028,422
18 = 99,197,694
17 + 18 = 179,226,116
Total = 325,719,178
So as it turns out, about 55% of the United States population lives with a 17 or 18 age of consent, barring some "close-in-age" exceptions and other details.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Friday September 21 2018, @11:19AM
I haven't followed the guy's activities at all. I just find it suspect that Julian Assange and now him challenge the people in power and then get hit with charges like this. Don't get me wrong, if the charges are accurate then they should burn for it. And I'm not declaring Assange or this guy to be heroes. The accusations just seem too convenient for the people trying to discredit anyone that challenges the status quo.
On the other side of the coin, no such charges were filed against Snowden and he has to be a bigger target for the US and its allies than Assange or Wilson. That would seem to indicate these charges are not a conspiracy.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:33PM (4 children)
It sounds like she was lying about her age then? I doubt any dating site allows under 18 year olds but I've never used one.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:39PM
"Some content on this site may be inappropriate for minors, click "yes" if you are over 18"
Would be quite interesting to see if this and similar cases might improve the current state of age verification for sites offering services with legal ramifications.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:46PM (2 children)
Problem is that even if you can prove they lied, you are still the one that goes to jail.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @07:49AM (1 child)
That is the proof she lied and will get him off the hook from pedobear accusations
It's an adult site for adults only.
Any claims of pedo will be tossed out in court.
The paying for sex part is different. Good luck with that.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Friday September 21 2018, @02:17PM
I think the much bigger issue here is that the US government does not like Wilson. (Whether I do or not is irrelevant.) The government does not like him, and some people do not like him. That is FAR more important of a reason to destroy this guy for whatever he might have done -- because what he did (OMG!!!) is a crime worse than jaywalking.
To transfer files: right-click on file, pick Copy. Unplug mouse, plug mouse into other computer. Right-click, paste.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:36PM (38 children)
Its happened before. Sure he was buying sex where its illegal, but the rest sounds pretty fishy.
Would think he would be smarter than that. Guess not.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:42PM (26 children)
A setup? Now I know there are some scummy fucking law enforcement people out there, but getting an underage teen to have sex? That is a pretty massive step into the dark side that seems quite likely to backfire. The guy is scummy in the extreme so it seems more likely that his 3D printed gun issue just brought an extra level of scrutiny, and now that website is probably going to be facing some massive investigations itself. Expect some prostitution rings to get busted.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by physicsmajor on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:56PM (19 children)
I will defer comment on his personal life, but what Defense Distributed has been doing is critically important defense of our rights. Unless you want 3D printers to start having big brother inspect every STL file before it does anything, you should also. It is and has always been entirely legal to manufacture firearms yourself for personal use.
His legal justification has always been rock solid, hilariously far from 'scummy in the extreme'.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Runaway1956 on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:18PM (1 child)
This is something of a problem. Even "bad people" perform an act of kindness now and then. And, even saints commit sins. I don't know how good or bad a guy Cody Wilson is, I've never met him, and haven't formed any opinions about him. But, he has been doing good, with his technological work. With these charges, millions have already judged him, so guilty or not, he's a scum bag. More millions will withhold judgement, but if he's found guilty, then he's the scummiest of scum bags. And, NO ONE will remember any good deed that may have been performed by a scum bag.
If you have plans to accomplish big things in life, you need to be among the saintliest of the saints, and never commit a sin.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Alfred on Friday September 21 2018, @02:22PM
i would like to present that he either did it or he didn't and this staement should be expanded to either
or
Because the second option actually happens a lot I expect that it is entirely possible here. If you go down that rabbit hole he may have been tricked or coerced into something that looks like this. Of course if there are those who want him destroyed like this then those people are also those that control the media such that he will never win in the court of public opinion.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by aristarchus on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:25PM (11 children)
But it is funny, isn't it, how all these libertarian alt-right "free speech" types end up in trouble over sex. The downfall of the Traditionalist Worker's Party (TWerPs?) in an orgy of hillbilly incest [vice.com] is a case in point. Not to mention Milo on pederasty and Anglin hiding out in Thailand. Coincidence? Not to mention Kavanaugh. Oops! Did I mention Kavanaugh?
(Score: 0, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:43PM (4 children)
Did you forget Anthony Weiner, Al Franken, Keith Ellison and Tony Cardenas?
(Score: 5, Informative) by aristarchus on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:01PM (1 child)
No, but I did mention Kavanaugh. Seems Republicans and other insane right these days equate rape with all other sexual harassment. I have even heard a Faux News operative refer to Kavanaugh's action as "attempted sexual assault". Hmmm, you know, attempted sexual assault is almost always actual sexual assault. Or to put it more bluntly, attempted rape is still sexual assault. Just we the America needs on it's hire court, along with Silent Tom the past sexual harasser. Oh, even consensual sex with a minor is still rape, since children cannot legally consent, even if you pay them $500.
(Score: 1, Troll) by Captival on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:20PM
What a stupid fucking hack. All the same people that are shrieking about this highly suspicious woman and her story which changes multiple times and witnesses who deny her don't seem to care about the Muslim Wife Beater they just re-elected.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @04:56AM (1 child)
I met a reporter who was instrumental to blowing open the Weiner case. He is now jobless, houseless, living on the street.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @06:11AM
MDC??
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:48PM
Would you also like to investigate this case?
https://mobile.twitter.com/atensnut?p=s [twitter.com]
I just learned of it, I have no idea why this has been ignored.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:21PM
You forgot Julian Assange
(Score: 3, Informative) by unauthorized on Friday September 21 2018, @04:34AM (3 children)
Libertarian.... alt right? Put down the happy drugs aristarchus, the alt right are very much into state authoritarianism, where as libertarians at most begrudgingly accept small governments as a necessity when they aren't going full ancap.
(Score: 4, Touché) by aristarchus on Friday September 21 2018, @05:15AM (2 children)
My apologies! But in my defense, I did not know what else to call right-wing racist pro-gun pedophiles, besides just "Republican".
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @08:13PM (1 child)
as opposed to all of the left-wing, pro-gun (as if that's even a partisan thing? Your poor world view might be shattered if you knew how many lefties want guns), pedophiles?
You're attempting to paint an entire side of the country with the brush only a small but high profile minority are fit for. Same with the Democrat side.
It says far more about you than the people you're attempting to characterize.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by aristarchus on Friday September 21 2018, @10:30PM
Again, sorry if my crude stereotype struck too close to home!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:38PM (2 children)
I wasn't referring to the printed gun aspect, just his decision to use the sugar daddy website, apparently not check the girl's ID or not care, calling himself a "big deal", and having created "hatreon" according to ikanreed.
I agree we shouldn't be making information on gun manufacturing into thought crimes, but I did not mention that in any way. I am not worried that if he goes down then so will the struggle for freedom.
(Score: 2) by takyon on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:55PM
Agreed. He was trying to secure a First Amendment right to share gun plans through court decisions. But at the end of the day, hundreds of thousands of people already have those files and any similar files can be shared just as easily as we can "pirate" TV shows and movies. If need be, such plans can be shared on the dark web. So Cody Wilson can be safely discarded into the dustbin of digital liberty history, although it is a minor setback.
Unless he somehow litigates his current cases from far away using his lawyers. But I kinda doubt it.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Friday September 21 2018, @01:04AM
Yeah, he created hatreon. I clicked enough links this evening to have that verified. Wilson claims it was mostly a joke, which went further than he expected, or some such nonsense. I'm still undecided whether hatreon is all bad, or some good and some bad. I haven't clicked that many links yet.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by c0lo on Friday September 21 2018, @03:35AM (1 child)
You make it sound like it's him and only him that can pull ahead your beloved gun 3D printing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @08:18PM
So because someone does not believe in censorship they must be in love with it? If you say "I don't think they should discriminate against Jews" does that mean you are a Jew or are in love with them? You're attempting to project that someone must be a gun-nut if they support this, when their motivations might be varied and quite broad.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:05PM
I'd think that rather than a setup, Wilson has been monitored and tracked by Federal intelligence agencies since they became aware of him. Once they see something damning enough to get rid of him with, they approach the girl, threaten her with prison/and or bribe her with cash, and destroy their target. The lesson of this is: if you're gonna be in the anti-authority spotlight, conduct yourself like a saint or get parallel-constructed into oblivion.
(Score: 3, Informative) by anotherblackhat on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:31PM (4 children)
Here's four links I found in under 5 minutes of searching;
https://newsmaven.io/pinacnews/courtroom-files/seattle-cop-fired-for-stalking-women-now-accused-of-kidnapping-a-woman-bpaAVWk_L02mpx04d5XO3Q/ [newsmaven.io]
https://abc7news.com/news/exclusive-former-san-mateo-cop-investigated-for-sexual-assaults/1335424/ [abc7news.com]
https://theferret.scot/northern-irish-police-sexual-assaults/ [theferret.scot]
https://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2016/05/12/oakland-police-underage-sex-scandal-involves-cop-who-possibly-killed-his-wife [eastbayexpress.com]
Cops are at least as likely as any one else to commit any given crime, including rape and murder.
What's more likely, that a teen prostitute gave herself up to the cops of her own accord, or that the cops put her in that situation to begin with?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:51PM
From the story it said her "counselor" reported it. So she told a school counselor, or psychiatrist, or whatever?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @10:54PM (2 children)
That is a very different case. I am in no way surprised that cops sexually assault people, but I would be surprised if they tried to frame someone by coercing a minor into prostitution. Now if they did it to blackmail someone I wouldn't be surprised. Two very different scenarios, the one I would be surprised by is the pursuit of "justice" by committing such a crime using a minor. Not only does it violate the idea of justice, but it would be extremely likely they'd get caught and
sentencedwrist slapped.(Score: 4, Insightful) by anotherblackhat on Friday September 21 2018, @12:07AM
Honey trap is so common we have a word for it.
I don't have any trouble believing there are some cops who'd do almost anything - after all there are over a million cops in the U.S.
The idea that one or two might want to nail this guy badly enough to cook something up isn't that far fetched.
And yes, they'd use an underage girl, because then it's "sexual assault" which is a felony instead of just a misdemeanor.
On the other hand, the girl's story is reasonably plausible too.
There's a reason we have trials before we start stringing people up.
(Score: 2) by tangomargarine on Friday September 21 2018, @02:36PM
I mean, that's basically what has happened...they just skipped the step where they contact the guy and offer him the ability to buy their silence.
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 5, Informative) by ikanreed on Thursday September 20 2018, @09:55PM (4 children)
Nothing in this guy's history makes me think he "would be smarter than that"
His list of acheivements are: designing a gun that's likely to injure you the third or fourth time you fire it, jumping deep into bitcoin just before the giant-ass crash, and making a knock-off of a popular website but for nazis. These aren't genius innovations.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:00PM
It was an alternative to Patreon who were eventually also forced to ban the far-left. You'd probably find igd would have been welcome on hatreon if they were not constantly inciting violence.
(Score: 1, Touché) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:06PM (2 children)
If you're so worried about plastic guns exploding, perhaps you should buy a desktop CNC mill [ghostgunner.net] and make metal gun frames from unfinished blanks? Don't know why that didn't make your list... (Oh wait, I do know why.)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @08:45AM (1 child)
Now I want you to mill the upper receiver, from a billet; the barrel, with proper chambering, headspace, rifling and muzzle chamfering, again from raw stock. Now I want you to case-harden and heat treat all the parts that need it, hone to tolerance all that parts that need that, and I want you to personally test-fire your "my first gunsmithing attempt", so that no one else is killed or maimed. What is it about 3d printing that makes everyone so stupid? Where are the 3D printer files for an Ice Cream Sundae, you cretins?
(Score: 3, Touché) by ElizabethGreene on Friday September 21 2018, @01:32PM
Why yes, I am an amateur gunsmith.
You've missed the hard part of building a homemade firearm, rifling the barrel. The other things you describe are fairly easy lathe and hand tool operations. The chambering work specifically is only hard until you learn how to make (or buy) a chamber reamer.
All of that is, of course, moot if your are talking about derp derp zip guns. These can and are made with (literally) plumbing pipe, a pipe cap, a nail, and a rubber band. They manage to make these in prisons of all places.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Thursday September 20 2018, @11:09PM
"smarter than that?"
If so, he might have tried to keep a lower profile while distributing his online plans.
And an even lower profile on a website where he (allegedly) met the girl. Don't say my name is Cody Wilson and I'm kind of a big deal.
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(Score: 4, Insightful) by bradley13 on Friday September 21 2018, @11:51AM (4 children)
Definitely sounds like a setup. Look, the guy is an idiot for hiring a prostitute, especially since he knows that he has a lot of political enemies. That said, consider:
What prostitute recounts her business transactions to a counselor? If she did that, every single client would get busted, seeing as how prostitution is illegal in Texas. Also another comment points out, she isn't an "enslaved" kid if she has a counselor. The whole counselor bit is fishy as hell.
She got paid $500 for less than an hour of her time. That's a hell of a rate. If she has a client who pays that kind of money, she's even less likely to rat him out.
Finally, she's on a site that requires participants to be legal adults. She apparently proved to the site that she was 19, in her correspondence she claimed to be 19, she almost certainly had fake ID to prove that she was 19. "Mens rea" (intent) is supposed to be required for most criminal prosecutions. If Cody Wilson genuinely thought she was an adult, then he is not guilty of statutory rape, it's really that simple.
Really, it smells like a setup. It doesn't even have to be a setup by the authorities - it could be some private group. Regardless, by choosing a crime involving underage girls and sex, they ensure that no one will dare come to his defense.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @02:44PM
Well, that's the thing -- for most criminal prosecutions. In Texas, sex with under-17 is a strict liability felony.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @02:54PM
So the guy bought a tart online. Which means the transaction was know to pretty much everybody since the 4th doesn't apply to digital communications.
So the question for the counseler is: "Who came to you and instructed you to come forward and what leverage did they have?"
(Score: 2) by DeathMonkey on Friday September 21 2018, @06:13PM (1 child)
Definitely sounds like a setup. Look, the guy is an idiot for hiring a prostitute,
So, OTHER than committing the crime, what did he do wrong?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday September 21 2018, @08:26PM
It's all about characterization and demonizing someone. Look, I don't think the guy is the greatest person ever, but there are keywords and hot buttons to press when you want to make something look potentially far more heinous than it was. If he legitimately thought was meeting a 19 year old and can prove it, his only crime is soliciting a prostitute which many people believe should be legal anyway. If they can claim he sought out a child he becomes a pedophile (which a 17 year old does not exactly fit into, but only in the case of trying to find every possible thing you can to hurt someone). Pedophile brings out all the special bleeding hearts... even in prison it gets horrible treatment from the other inmates. This isn't to minimize the severity of pedophilia. That's a truly horrible crime. It's also a handy tool to make the public hate someone without having to provide real proof.