At this point, there is nothing that looks remotely defensible about Cody Wilson’s actions after he (reportedly) paid a minor for sex if the details in this story are correct.
At home, police say that he got on a plane to Taiwan at some point after he was tipped off by a friend of the minor that she was cooperating with a police investigation into the incident. Even if the trip was pre-planned, this seems like an unwise choice to make the trip if you’ve got any chance at defending yourself.
But now we learn that he checked in to one hotel and promptly left, decided to rent a studio for 6 months, but then didn’t show to get the keys when he realized that he was wanted in Taiwan, too. (We may not have an extradition treaty with them, but that doesn’t mean they are under obligation to let you roam free. A country with no treaty can still arrest you and turn you over to the US, it’s just a matter of whether they want to do so or not.) They eventually found him in a totally different hotel.
The report indicates that his passport was cancelled, so Taiwan could pick him up on immigration charges once he was found. He can now be deported to the U.S.
None of this will look good during a trial. Depending on the details of the encounter with the girl he is accused of soliciting, he could have potentially mounted somewhat of a defense that she lied about her age repeatedly. If he could prove it or raise a reasonable doubt that he actually knew her age, then there’d be a chance at a plea bargain or maybe an easier sentence. But fleeing to a foreign country with no extradition treaty and going so far as to rent an apartment? Yeah, that’s not going to go over well and will probably kill his chances at being released in advance of the trial since he’s now a demonstrated flight risk.
Sounds like somebody violated the first rule of hole digging.
He didn’t stop when he got to China?
No but he certainly tried real hard to get there.
Well, damn.
Ok, maybe I’m stupid, but who is Cody Wilson that anyone cares????
I feel like I missed something here…..
3D printed gun guy. Defense Distributed.
If you’re a dude like Cody Wilson going on the lam, you need to do it in a country where there’s a lot of informal economy, where white folks can blend in, where people mostly mind their own business, and the cops are corrupt enough to be bought if you do get found. This does not describe Taiwan.
Russia?
where people mostly mind their own business
Fails on that count, I think. The Russians will be keen to use you to the extent you’re useful. You’d be a prize if you’re someone like Wilson, and you haven’t done anything for them specifically, like Snowden did.
Plus, the Russians are probably way too chauvinist to be a good culture to hide out in.
I was just thinking in terms of being safe from extradition, more than “hiding out.” I doubt you could easily enter Russia without them being aware of it, but once you are there, there are so many Americans walking around Moscow and St. Petersburg you wouldn’t necessarily stand out. How long you could escape notice would be another question.
I’d think South America for those criteria. Definitely not Taiwan.
But why are they going after HIM so hard, rather than the hundreds of other perverts on that web site? What might motivate the .gov to look in his dirction?
Mandatory reporter put it in to the cops. There’s really no mystery or question of “why” here – underage girl tells social worker who reports to cops, who build an airtight case and issue an arrest warrant.
All most rikky tick.
Meanwhile, Roman Polanski is safe in Poland. And that was forcible rape. Double standard much.
France won’t kick Polanski out. Taiwan is going to kick Cody Wilson out.
CA prosecuted Polanski, and in fact convicted him; I forget offhand whether he fled before or after sentencing.
And I doubt you’re going to find many defenders of Polanski on this site; I’m certainly not going to defend him
My comment was strictly “why is TX going after Cody Wilson” – it was a chain of mandatory reports, with not a lot of effort necessary to develop Probable Cause, either.
Before sentencing
Honey Trap. Planned and executed by the same city that did a political prosecution of Tom DeLay.
I highly doubt anyone would use a 16 year old girl to set someone one up.
Do we, er, have any evidence at all of any sort of “trap”, here?
I don’t see any suggestion of it.
Just the convenient timing of the accusation. It’s more than likely a legit charge. But in the modern political climate, everyone assumes the worst. All too often, rightly so.
That we do not have an extradition treaty with Taiwan is a misunderstanding – USA has a one China policy, so “treaties” that lend an air of recognition to the govt are sensitive. Taiwan is depended on us for defense, so they will 100% cooperate.
Wilson met her on “SugarDaddyMeet.com.” The juries basic problem will be it sounds like a place you meet young women looking for older men.
Or a place where you meet rich men looking for younger women.
Bitter, I don’t think Wilson would have any chance at a plea bargain if he thought she was old enough, even if he had convincing evidence (like she had a fake ID, for example). In most jurisdictions I’m aware of, statutory rape is a strict liability crime: Mens rea doesn’t matter. The fact that you *THOUGHT* someone was old enough is irrelevant, the act itself is the crime. So if you meet someone at a bar that has a strict 21 and over policy, and they check every ID, and you subsequently sleep with that person, and it turns out they are 15 years old and were using their older sibling’s ID, it doesn’t matter. You’re still guilty of statutory rape even if you honestly thought they were 21 years old.
Yup. Even if a busload of nuns swear they all thought she was 21. Even if her parents were standing there buying her drinks.
If she’s underage, it’s statutory rape.
Lesson? Don’t sleep with anyone who even looks under 40. ;-)