"Robot Sexual Harassment and Live Streaming": An Incident That Shocked Germany [Subak]

What the police confiscated after receiving a report in a bustling German district was a robot. Standing 120 cm tall, it resembled the red-and-gold Iron Man. This came after a report was filed alleging that inappropriate physical contact had been made with a 16-year-old girl. The charge applied by the police was not "sexual harassment," but "sexual insult."

01. The Full Story of the Incident: Filming and Live Streaming

Just before midnight on Saturday, October 10, local time, a 16-year-old girl was standing with two friends in a busy area of Cologne, Germany. At that moment, a robot approached from behind the girl. According to police, the robot made contact with the girl's buttocks and repeated motions that could be interpreted as sexual. Startled, the girl moved away. This scene also spread via video.

The owner of the robot is a 16-year-old boy. He, along with a 19-year-old man who was with him, is suspected of filming the incident and live-streaming it on social media. Responding to the report, police located the two men near the scene of the incident and seized the robot and two mobile phones found inside a car trunk.

02. How Did the Robot Move?

Although police have not disclosed the specific model, its height and movements closely resemble Unitree's compact humanoid, the R1, from China. Just because a robot moves does not mean all its actions are autonomously determined by AI. German police are investigating whether the robot was intentionally manipulated by someone. To date, there is no confirmation that the AI independently judged and performed sexual actions.

03. A Similar Controversy Existed in Saudi Arabia

In March 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a male humanoid robot named "Muhammad," which appeared at the DeepFest tech event, was captured appearing to touch the back of a jacket worn by a female reporter covering the event. Looking startled, the reporter turned back and raised her hand to stop it. The manufacturer, QSS, stated that the robot operated autonomously and that after reviewing the footage, nothing deviated from expected behavior.

The decisive difference from this recent incident is that the Saudi case involved a problem caused by a robot acting on its own. The Cologne incident, however, revolves around whether a human used the robot.

04. Isn't It "Sexual Harassment" If a Robot Touches Someone?

Section 184i of the German Criminal Code penalizes harassing another person by touching their body in a sexual manner. The core issue is the definition of "physical contact." In 2021, the Federal Court of Justice of Germany interpreted this clause, explaining that, in principle, the perpetrator's own body must directly touch the victim's body. Legal interpretations stating that indirect contact via a machine or a third party does not satisfy this requirement have also been cited in judgments.
Although that trial did not involve a robot, it is the reason why a debate has emerged over whether the existing sexual harassment clause can be applied to this case.

On the other hand, there is also the argument that a robot should be viewed as a human's tool—that is, an extended arm.

Interpretations are divided on how to apply existing penal provisions to physical contact using a robot.
Police are currently investigating on charges of insult of a sexual nature, while also verifying how the robot was operated, filmed, and live-streamed.

05. The Person Behind the Robot

Robots are no longer machines that only move inside factories. They can walk down streets, converse with people, and reach out to make contact. Laws built on the premise of human behavior are now facing unexpected questions in the presence of a new tool called a robot.

While what the police confiscated in this incident was a robot, those under investigation are the people who owned the robot. In an era where robots act on behalf of humans, responsibility for those actions cannot be shifted to the robots.


Deep Dive Q&A
Q1. What is the legal reason why German police are prioritizing the investigation of the suspects in the Cologne robot incident under charges of "sexual insult" rather than "sexual harassment"?

A1. This is because, under a 2021 precedent by the Federal Court of Justice of Germany regarding Section 184i of the German Criminal Code (Sexual Harassment), for sexual harassment to be established, there is a requirement for "direct physical contact," meaning the perpetrator's own body must directly touch the victim's body. Based on the legal interpretation that indirect contact through a third-party tool such as a robot or machine is difficult to satisfy this requirement, law enforcement authorities have prioritized applying the charge of "sexual insult" while closely investigating the intent behind the robot's remote operation and live streaming.

Q2. What is the decisive difference between the 2024 "Muhammad" robot incident in Saudi Arabia and the recent Cologne robot incident in Germany?

A2. The decisive difference between the two cases lies in whether it was an "autonomous operational error" or "intentional human operation and abuse." The Saudi incident involved a malfunction where the robot touched a reporter during autonomous driving and operation processes, whereas the German incident involved suspects who remotely operated a robot to intentionally inflict sexual motions and contact on a 16-year-old girl, live-streamed it on social media, and abused it as a criminal tool (an extended arm).
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.