Police investigate first case of 'virtual rape' after girl gets 'attacked' by group of men in metaverse

British police recently opened an investigation into a "virtual rape" after a girl's avatar was "attacked" by a group of men while playing video games in the metaverse, the Daily Mail first reported Monday.

Metaverse users wear a virtual reality headset to immerse themselves in gaming, fitness, entertainment, and social experiences where they can connect with other users worldwide.

The child, who was under the age of 16, was reportedly in an online "room" when several adult male users approached her digital character. Since the incident took place in the metaverse, the girl was not physically attacked by the gang of online strangers. However, officers reportedly compared the girl's psychological and emotional trauma to that of an actual rape victim.

A senior official familiar with the case told the Daily Mail, "This child experienced psychological trauma similar to that of someone who has been physically raped. There is an emotional and psychological impact on the victim that is longer term than any physical injuries."

"It poses a number of challenges for law enforcement given current legislation is not set up for this," the official added.

There have been reports of a number of virtual sexual assaults in Horizon Worlds, a free video game created by Meta Platforms where users can create their own avatars. A senior police officer told the Daily Mail that sexual offenses have become "rife" in the metaverse.

This incident is believed to be the first time United Kingdom authorities have investigated a virtual sexual offense. With police resources limited, authorities are reportedly struggling to keep up with a backlog of actual rape cases, the Daily Mail noted. The announcement of the investigation has raised questions about whether law enforcement should be investigating virtual crimes.

Ian Critchley with the National Police Chiefs' Council told the Daily Mail that the metaverse "creates a gateway for predators to commit horrific crimes against children."

"We know offenders' tactics to groom and commit offences are constantly evolving. This is why our collective fight against predators like in this case, is essential to ensuring young people are protected online and can use technology safely without threat or fear," Critchley continued. "As such, our policing approach must continually evolve to enable us to relentlessly pursue predators and safeguard victims across all online spaces."

Graeme Biggar, the National Crime Agency's director general, told the Evening Standard that the agency is weighing how it will police crime in the metaverse.

"It's not dominating our thinking because there is plenty of real world crime for us to be getting on with, but if you are in the metaverse wearing a haptic suit where you can sense what is happening to [you] and then you are sexually assaulted, raped or murdered, even if you are not wearing a haptic suit, is that ok?" Biggar questioned.

Biggar explained that those wearing a haptic suit "are going to feel a physical manifestation of that rape or murder."

Meta told the Daily Mail, "The kind of behaviour described has no place on our platform, which is why for all users we have an automatic protection called personal boundary, which keeps people you don't know a few feet away from you."

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!