Richard Cox, the registered sex offender who made a habit of terrorizing women and girls in locker rooms in Virginia's Fairfax and Arlington Counties, has been found guilty of two counts of possessing child pornography.
Cox, who identifies as a "transgender" woman, would go into women's locker rooms and repeatedly expose himself to women and girls. He hid behind his so-called "trans identity," and many authorities were fine with turning a blind eye to his behavior, which included having schedules of children's swim classes on his cell phone. A member of the Arlington school board even sympathized with Cox, worried that he experienced "transphobic statements" from staff at pools in the area.
🚨 Update: An Arlington jury just found Virginia sex offender Richard Cox GUILTY of two counts of possessing child pornography. Cox identifies as a transgender woman, and allegedly exposed himself to girls in Fairfax and Arlington locker rooms.
— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) February 4, 2026
https://t.co/Ji8kHjbRUI
Cox continued to insist that his exposing himself to women and girls isn't a crime because he identifies as a woman.
On Monday, Cox continued to insist he’s a transgender woman and he said in court that failing to cover up his naked body in women's locker rooms isn’t a crime, as it’s Arlington Public Schools and Arlington County policy to allow people to use locker rooms based on gender identity.
In Arlington, Cox faces two trials. The first trial is solely focused on accusations of Cox possessing child pornography. That’s what police say they found on his phone and on a memory device after they arrested him at Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center in December 2024.
The reason why Cox was arrested in the first place was because of reports that he was exposing and touching himself in women’s locker rooms at Wakefield High School, Washington Liberty High School, Arlington Mill, and Barcroft Sports and Fitness Center.
Cox will also face a second trial related to his exposing himself in women's locker rooms.
Minock reported that the jury deliberated for just over two hours before returning the guilty verdict.
Cox faces up to 20 years for these two counts. The jury deliberated for just over two hours.
— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) February 4, 2026
Cox faces up to 20 years in prison for these two counts.
Statement from the Arlington prosecutor:
— Nick Minock (@NickMinock) February 4, 2026
“Possession of child pornography is never a victimless crime, because if there were no market for it, people would not abuse children and create it. We can never heal the trauma of those children, but we can hold accountable people like…
Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti said in a statement, "Possession of child pornography is never a victimless crime, because if there were no market for it, people would not abuse children and create it. We can never heal the trauma of those children, but we can hold accountable people like Mr. Cox, who create the conditions that make it profitable. The jury had a difficult job and I thank them profusely for their service."
This writer can't help but wonder if Cox will be housed in a men's prison, where he belongs, or if the Democrats running VA will put him in the women's prison because he says he's female.
But I don't understand. He says he's a woman. https://t.co/ooVWeh5A1o
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) February 4, 2026
A jury didn't buy that, thankfully.
What a monster.
— Steve Guest (@SteveGuest) February 4, 2026
Maybe now Democrats in Arlington will stop defending this guy: https://t.co/YcH1akCrYW
They will not stop defending this guy. Governor Spanberger couldn't even bring herself to condemn him during the campaign.
Cox's second trial is scheduled to start in April.