A red-and-gold robot has been seized in Cologne, Germany, after a report that it groped a 16-year-old girl outside a fast-food restaurant. Two teenagers who accompanied it are now suspects in the criminal investigation.
Cologne Police announced the seizure on October 12 following a late-night encounter over the weekend. Their account places the girl with two friends when the robot approached her from behind.
The robot belonged to a 16-year-old from Wegberg, who was accompanied by a 19-year-old companion.
The two teenagers had not been charged as of an October 13 Associated Press report, which quoted Cologne police spokesman Christoph Bermel.
On the Ring
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The girl and her friends, ages 17 and 18, were outside the restaurant at Palmstrasse and Hohenzollernring between 11:45 p.m. and midnight. The police account concerns the overnight period leading into Sunday, October 11.
The robot stood approximately 1.20 meters tall, just under four feet. In the police account, it touched the girl’s buttocks and made thrusting movements against her. Police suspect that its owner and his companion filmed and livestreamed the encounter on social media while providing commentary.
Officers responding shortly afterward found the people involved at Magnusstrasse and Hohenzollernring. The owner had placed the robot in the trunk of a Volkswagen, where officers found it. They confiscated it along with two mobile phones belonging to the suspects.
At the Controls
Police are examining how the robot functioned at the time, including whether someone deliberately directed its movements. Bermel told AP that police were considering whether the movements were preprogrammed or controlled in real time.
The German release names suspected “Beleidigung auf sexueller Grundlage,” meaning an insult of a sexual nature. That is the stated basis of the investigation, rather than an announcement of sexual-assault charges.
“We have not been aware of this phenomenon so far,” Bermel told AP, calling it “new territory for us.”
In an October 14 follow-up, legal publication beck-aktuell reported that the girl, possible witnesses, and the two suspects were expected to be questioned again.
All parties are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.