German authorities are investigating after a 16-year-old girl reported that she was sexually assaulted by a remotely controlled robot.
The red-and-gold robot allegedly approached the girl from behind as she stood with friends outside a fast-food restaurant in Cologne on Oct. 10, according to German police in an English-translated press release.
Police said the roughly 4-foot-tall machine allegedly touched the girl’s backside and made thrusting movements. Two other suspects, ages 19 and 16, may have livestreamed the incident on social media.
Authorities later located the two teenagers and found the robot inside the trunk of a Volkswagen. Police said the younger suspect had placed it there.
“Officers confiscated the robot and two mobile phones belonging to the suspects,” police said in the release. “The criminal investigation department is investigating on suspicion of sexual harassment.”
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The two males have not been charged, Cologne police spokesperson Christoph Bermel told the Associated Press. Investigators are examining whether the robot’s actions were programmed beforehand or controlled in real time.
“We have not been aware of this phenomenon so far,” Bermel told the outlet, describing the case as “new territory for us.”
Cologne police shared a photo of the robot on Facebook. In the image, it is wearing a white shirt, sunglasses, a gold chain and a fake mustache.
The Associated Press reported that one online video shows two males steering the robot toward a group of women on a street. After it made sexual gestures, one of the men shouted and pulled the machine away.
A Cologne police spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.