A prolific sex offender is accused of exposing himself to women and children in girls’ locker rooms at public schools and community centers in Virginia while claiming to be a transgender woman.
Richard Cox, a 58-year-old, balding pervert on the highest level of the sex offender registry, appeared in court in Arlington on Thursday and repeatedly insisted he is now a woman and demanded the prosecutor be ordered to stop misgendering him.
However, the judge declined to do so — noting how dozens of horrified witnesses had seen he was physically still a male when he stripped naked and touched himself in local public locker rooms.
In one case, Cox — whose lengthy rap sheet of sex crimes stretches more than 30 years — was accused of spying on women while naked in changing rooms shared by a high school that allows people to use bathrooms based on their chosen gender identity.
One disturbed mother also said she and her 5-year-old daughter went to use a public women’s locker at a school after a swim class when she saw Cox touching himself while nude in a shower stall with the curtain open, WJLA reported.
Another woman said she and her two daughters, ages 5 and 6, were at the Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center for a gymnastics class when they found Cox naked in the girls’ locker room there.
A 17-year-old lifeguard who worked at one of the Arlington pools said she witnessed Cox naked in a school locker room — as did other women who testified at the hearing.
The hairy pervert also had child pornography on his phone — and a schedule for children’s gymnastic classes at the Barcroft gym, a detective testified.
The same detective found children’s swimming lesson schedules for rec centers in neighboring Fairfax County — where he has also been seen lurking around children, according to the outlet.
Cox is a Tier III sex offender — the most serious type, which requires a lifetime registration, according to court documents. He was first placed on the registry in 1998, records show.
He was arrested in December for allegedly spying on women while naked in the female changing rooms at Arlington’s swimming center, which shares facilities with Washington-Liberty High School.
Arlington Public Schools allows people to use locker rooms and bathrooms of their choice based on their chosen gender identity.
He’s had recent run-ins with law enforcement for similar acts going back several months before his arrest, leading to multiple complaints.
Cox was hit with 29 total charges related to the sex-crime spree since 2024, according to jail records. His case in Arlington goes before the grand jury next week.
He has a rap sheet of sex crimes going back to 1992, records show.
