Arlington Judge Throws Out Case Against Sex Offender Accused of Locker Room Exposure

Añadido: 2026-06-03

[00:00:00]Are several new developments to a sex offender case 7 news has extensively covered for more than a year. Registered sex offender Richard Cox is facing charges in Arlington County for exposing himself to women and girls in school locker rooms, but the case has hit a big setback. Nick Minock tells us where things stand.

[00:00:21]>> For months in 2024, Richard Cox used women's locker rooms in Fairfax County and Arlington County. Cox claims he's a transgender woman.

[00:00:30]>> My civil rights as a transgender person allows me to use a public facility including the restrooms or or changing rooms that identify with my gender.

[00:00:41]>> Although Fairfax County police never arrested the registered sex offender for exposing himself to women and girls in rec center locker rooms throughout the county, Arlington County police did. In 2024, Cox used women's locker rooms in two high schools and a county fitness center in Arlington. For that, the Arlington Commonwealth Attorney indicted the sex offender for loitering within 100 ft of schools and child swimming and gymnastics classes and exposing himself to women and girls in the locker rooms.

[00:01:11]Cox asked a judge for the indictments to be dismissed and that's what happened.

[00:01:16]Judge Daniel Lopez ruled the Virginia law Cox is being prosecuted under void for vagueness under the 14th Amendment.

[00:01:24]The judge's core reasoning is that the statute criminalizes loitering within 100 ft of schools and child day programs by some convicted sex offenders, but does not define loitering or give standards for when it becomes a felony.

[00:01:39]This is a significant ruling because it does not only find an issue with how the statute was applied to Cox. It says the statute itself is constitutionally defective. The Arlington prosecutor disagrees with the judge's decision and appealed. The court of appeals accepted the case and now Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones will represent the Commonwealth on appeal. But for now, everything in the Arlington trial court is on hold. Separately, Cox was recently convicted by a jury for possessing child pornography, which Arlington police found when they arrested him at Barcode Sports and Fitness Center. Meanwhile, in Fairfax County, Cox is also now charged for sexually assaulting a woman in 1988.

[00:02:25]>> I want to see justice served.

[00:02:27]>> The victim saw 7 News' reporting on Cox entering female locker rooms, which compelled her to tell police what happened to her more than 30 years ago.

[00:02:37]>> I felt guilt because maybe if I had uh pressed charges, this would have been on his record a long time ago, and he wouldn't have been allowed access to these bathrooms.

[00:02:47]>> Cox's preliminary hearing on that sexual assault charge in Fairfax County was last week. That case is moving forward as planned. Right now, Cox remains in custody at the Arlington jail. Nick Minock, 7 News.