Conservative activist who crafted GOP’s anti-porn bill is a wanted man in Tennessee

Conservative-backed legislation that would require pornography filters on all electronic devices was drafted in part by a legal gadfly who tried to marry his computer and is wanted by Tennessee authorities in connection with a domestic dispute.

A bill under consideration in 13 states would force consumers to pay extra to bypass the mandatory filter blocking sexually explicit content, and its co-author Chris Sevier wants to introduce the measure at the federal level, reported The Daily Beast.

Sevier admits he's best known as “the mentally ill stalker who wants to marry his computer" -- an unsuccessful legal stunt intended as a protest against same-sex marriage -- but at least some of the lawmakers pushing his bill had never heard of his checkered past.

The Republican co-sponsors of the Human Trafficking Prevention Act in South Carolina were surprised to learn Sevier had been charged with stalking country singer John Rich and a 17-year-old ice cream shop employee.

“Yes, he’s working with us on this, (but) I don’t know anything about (him) so much," said state Rep. Bill Chumley (R-Reidville). "It didn’t really matter to me. I know about as much about him as anybody else who calls me. I don’t want to be associated with people who have a past that’s questionable. Unfortunately, I’m in politics. Otherwise, I’d be sitting at home.”

Chumley's co-sponsor, state Rep. Mike Burns (R-Travelers Rest), said he still supported the bill despite Sevier's past and concerns that a $20 activation fee amounted to a new tax.

“We do not want more taxes -- period,” Burns said. “But we are trying to make a statement, and $20 ain’t gonna kill anybody.”

The 40-year-old Sevier lost his license to practice law due to mental health issues related to his service in the Iraq War for several weeks in 2010 as a member of the Tennessee National Guard.

The Daily Beast learned during its reporting on the anti-porn bill that Sevier has a warrant out for his arrest in Tennessee related to his 2011 arrest for assaulting his father-in-law during a dispute over visitation rights.

Sevier's then-7-month-old son was injured in the fight, but he claims reports about the warrant, a restraining order filed by his wife and failure to pay child support as "fake news."

He was found guilty of misdemeanor assault in that case and sentenced to 58 days in jail, and the warrant was issued in August 2015 for failure to appear in court in the child support case.

“I don’t give a damn about what anybody thinks about me,” he said. “I know all about what fake news is. I know all about how courts can be abused.”