JUDGE DISMISSES CHARGES AGAINST TRANS-IDENTIFYING SEX OFFENDER ACCUSED OF EXPOSING HIMSELF IN GIRLS LOCKER ROOMS

National Review

 

Judge Dismisses Charges Against Trans-Identifying Sex Offender Accused of Exposing Himself in Girls’ Locker Rooms

By Lauren Veldhuizen

June 4, 2026 12:41 PM

 

A Virginia judge has dismissed charges against Richard Cox, a tier-three sex offender who allegedly exposed himself in the girls’ locker rooms at two Arlington high schools after he gained entry by identifying as a woman.

 

Arlington Judge Daniel Lopez moved this week to dismiss charges against Cox for loitering within 100 feet of schools and child swim and gymnastics classes, and for exposing himself to women and girls in the locker rooms.

 

Lopez found the charge to be void after Cox filed a motion claiming the charges were “unconstitutional” due to “vagueness.”

 

Lopez ruled that “the operative conduct prohibited by the statute is ‘loitering.’ The statute, however, provides no definition of that term and contains no guidance regarding the duration of presence, the purpose of the conduct, or the surrounding circumstances that transform otherwise lawful presence near the listed locations into criminal behavior.”

 

In a footnote, the court memorandum also clarified that it is “aware that the Defendant uses she/her pronouns. The Court nevertheless uses pronouns consistent with those reflected in the indictments.”

 

In a police body camera video obtained by 7News in 2024, Cox says, “My civil rights as a transgender person allow me to use a public facility, including restrooms and changing rooms that identify as my gender.”

 

Policies put in place by the Arlington County Board and the Arlington School Board allowed him and others to enter and use bathrooms and locker rooms based on their gender identity, rather than their sex. This allowed Cox to enter those spaces with little to no pushback from staff, despite complaints from various mothers and young women.

 

He is accused of taking advantage of the policy by frequently visiting Arlington high schools and community locker rooms and bathrooms, where he exposed himself to women and girls.

 

Attorneys for the commonwealth of Arlington plan to appeal the judge’s ruling while Cox remains in custody.

 

“The Commonwealth remains committed to ensuring that the law is applied correctly and consistently, and to pursuing justice through all appropriate legal channels,” said attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti.

 

As National Review previously reported last year, one of the victims of Cox’s exposure feared “that the locker-room intruder may get off easy due to Virginia’s liberal sentencing rules.”

 

Cox’s recent charges, though they have been dismissed, are just the latest in a long line of criminal indictments for the transgender-identifying man.

 

He has been a registered sex offender since 1998 and faces more than 20 indictments for indecent exposure, public masturbation, possession of child pornography, and the sexual assault of a teenager.

 

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