A Virginia judge has thrown out indictments against a male registered sex offender who claims to identify as a transgender woman.

Richard Cox used women’s locker rooms in Fairfax County and Arlington County for months back in 2024. In both counties, individuals are permitted to use bathrooms and locker rooms that coincide with their gender identity rather than their biological sex.

Cox has claimed to identify as transgender. According to ABC 7 News, in a November 2024 police body cam, Cox told Fairfax County police, “My civil rights as a transgender person allow me to use a public facility, including restrooms and changing rooms that identify as my gender.”

Fairfax County did not arrest Cox for exposing himself to women and girls in locker rooms. But he was arrested in Arlington County when he used girls’ locker rooms in two high schools and a county fitness center. He was indicted by the Arlington Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti’s office for being a sex offender loitering within 100 feet of schools and child swim and gymnastics classes, and exposing himself to women and girls.

After Cox asked the court to dismiss the indictments, Judge Daniel Lopez granted the request. The judge ruled that the statute under which Cox was being prosecuted is unconstitutionally vague under the Fourteenth Amendment. 

Lopez noted that the law criminalizes “loitering” within 100 feet of schools and daycare programs by certain convicted sex offenders, but argued that it failed to define “loitering” or provide standards for determining when a violation constitutes a felony. 

The decision was opposed by the Arlington prosecutor, who appealed the ruling. The case will now be reviewed by the Virginia Court of Appeals, with Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones representing the state.

Cox was previously convicted of possessing child pornography. He was also previously charged with sexual assault in Fairfax County.