The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that would ban child sex dolls and robots because they'normalize sex between adults and minors.' The bill now moves to the Senate, where it must be approved before it is then offered up to the president for signing. 'These dolls can be programmed to simulate rape,' said Rep. Bob Goodlatte, a Republican from Virginia who chairs the House Judiciary Committee. 'The very thought makes me nauseous.' News of the bill's passage in the House was reported by McClatchy.

Sex robots appear to be the next big thing for the adult entertainment industry. Unroboticized sex dolls are not new – but combined with state-of-the-art fabrication techniques, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and programming applications, such dolls may soon reach new levels of sophistication. As sex dolls become increasingly realistic – and their roboticization looms on the horizon – a key question to ask is how the law should respond when such objects are made for, and used by, those with a sexual interest in children? Dolls for this market, manufactured overseas, are now starting to appear on the legal radar from attempts to import them into the country. The National Crime Agency (NCA) has warned that child-like sex dolls are being sold on the internet and campaigners have urged the government to outlaw the trade.