Key takeaways:
- The alleged incident occurred outside a Cologne fast-food restaurant shortly before midnight on Oct. 10.
- Police seized the robot and phones belonging to its 16-year-old owner and his 19-year-old companion.
- Investigators have not determined how the robot moved; neither person has been charged.
German police have seized a humanoid robot and two phones after the machine allegedly touched a 16-year-old girl’s buttocks and made thrusting motions toward her outside a fast-food restaurant in Cologne. Investigators are trying to determine who controlled the robot and whether its movements were deliberate.
The incident took place shortly before midnight on Oct. 10, according to CBS News. Police said the red-and-gold robot, about 120cm (3.9ft) tall, approached the girl from behind while she was with friends near the city centre. The BBC reported that she screamed and moved away.
Police identified the robot’s owner as a 16-year-old boy. They said he and a 19-year-old companion are believed to have recorded and livestreamed the encounter on social media while commenting on it. Officers found the pair a short distance away after the incident was reported. The robot was in the back of a car; police seized it along with both men’s phones.
Investigators are reviewing video to establish the sequence of events and determine whether someone controlled the robot remotely, programmed its movements or whether it moved on its own, CBS News reported. Police have not established that either person deliberately directed the alleged contact.
CBS News reported that one person involved later said on TikTok that the robot had accidentally collided with a woman while trying to avoid another passerby. The outlet said longer videos circulating online appear to show the robot making sexually suggestive movements after touching the girl.
The investigation also raises a question about how existing law applies to contact made through a machine. CBS News reported that German sexual-harassment law generally requires direct physical contact between people. Legal experts told the television network RTL that this could make a prosecution under those provisions difficult. Police are instead investigating a suspected sexually motivated insult and may examine whether images were published without authorization, according to CBS News. Neither person has been charged.
Police also urged caution in responses to the case online. In a follow-up Facebook post cited by the BBC, they warned that some social media comments “can be a crossing of the line and in the worst case, a criminal offense.”
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