The case involving a registered sex offender accused of exposing himself to girls and women in school locker rooms will now be handled by Virginia’s Democratic Attorney General Jay Jones.
Richard Kenneth Cox, 59, has a long history of offenses. Registered as a sex offender since 1998 for indecent acts against a child, he also faced charges for possessing obscene material with a minor in 2007. Furthermore, Cox has been convicted multiple times for failing to register as a sex offender—in 2007 and again in 2021.
In a letter from 1992, Cox acknowledged having a “sexual problem,” and later admitted to feeling a “compulsion of public exposure,” as previously reported.
He is facing over 20 charges related to an alleged incident of nude exposure at the Washington Liberty High School pool on October 21, 2024. The charges include lewd behavior, being a sex offender on school grounds, and loitering near schools and public parks.
Interestingly, the pool at Washington Liberty High is open to the public outside normal school hours.
Cox, who identifies as female under the name Riki Cox, claims his civil rights as a transgender person permit him to use facilities that align with his identified gender—a point that is supported by the district’s policy.
On March 12, Arlington County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Lopez ruled in favor of Cox by agreeing to dismiss the case based on the vagueness of the law under which he was charged. Specifically, he challenged the Virginia statute focused on loitering, stating that it was not clearly defined and therefore ambiguous.
The judge stated, “Therefore, this statute is invalid because it is ambiguous.”
The Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office has decided to appeal this ruling, and the case is now in the hands of AG Jones, who had previously expressed his controversial views about Republicans online.
Besides, Cox was also found with child pornography on his devices during his arrest related to the exposure charges in December 2024.
