British police are investigating an alleged gang rape of a young girl's avatar in a virtual reality game, in what is believed to be the first investigation of its kind involving the Metaverse.
The alleged victim, identified only as a girl under the age of 16, was wearing a virtual reality headset in an immersive game when her avatar, an animated representation of herself, was raped by several men. Ta. It was first reported by the Daily Mail.
Although the accuser was not physically injured, police officials said she may have suffered the same trauma as someone who had been raped in real life.
“There is a mental and psychological impact on the victim, which lasts longer than the physical injury,” an executive familiar with the incident told the publication.
Still, British authorities are concerned that prosecution will not be possible under current law, which defines sexual assault as non-consensual sexual contact.
The investigation raises questions about whether police should spend their time and limited resources investigating metaverse crimes while grappling with the high volume of face-to-face rape cases.
But Home Secretary James Cleverley defended the pioneering VR rape investigation.
“I know it would be easy to dismiss this as not real, but the important thing about these virtual environments is that they are incredibly immersive,” said a senior politician. Ta. LBC's Nick Ferrari spoke on Breakfast.
“And we're talking about children here, and children have experienced sexual trauma,” he added.
“It would have had a very significant psychological impact and we need to be very careful about ignoring this.”
Cleverly also argued that someone who attempts to rape a child's avatar in a video game “could be someone who could go on to do terrible things in the physical realm.”
Ian Critchley, head of child protection and abuse investigation at the National Police Chiefs' Council, echoed Cleverley's comments, writing in an email that the Metaverse is creating a “gateway” for predators to victimize children. Told.
Mr Critchley stressed the need for continued evolution of police methods and relevant legislation to tackle crimes committed online, and urged technology companies to do more to keep their users safe. asked to do so.
There have been several reports of virtual sex crimes in Horizon Worlds, a free VR game run by Facebook's parent company Meta.
A senior police investigator told the Mail that other types of crime, including online sex crimes and virtual theft, are “rampant” in the Metaverse, but so far there have been no prosecutions in the UK.
Mehta did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
