Virginia Public Schools Deserve Reckoning over Woke Policies

One night in 1988, a girl woke up to find a man on top of her while she was at a friend’s house near Falls Church in Virginia. She was a runaway at the time and didn’t report the incident to authorities. But she never forgot her abuser’s face.

So when she saw Richard Cox on TV recently, she says she recognized him as the man who had sexually assaulted her decades earlier. Cox’s face was broadcast across local airwaves late last year after he was accused of and arrested for exposing himself to children in Arlington County women’s locker rooms. (In the 1988 case, the woman identified Cox during a victims’ roundtable this past April, after which Fairfax County police charged Cox with sexual assault.) A tier-three sex offender, Cox is not allowed near facilities that children use. As we reported in February, Cox’s rap sheet is lengthy: In 1992, he exposed his genitals and masturbated in front of a child at a gym; the same year, he was convicted of burglary; in 2007, he was convicted of possessing obscene materials with a minor; in 2021, he was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender; and more.

About the Author

Haley Strack

Haley Strack is a former staff writer at National Review.

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One night in 1988, a girl woke up to find a man on top of her while she was at a friend’s house near Falls Church in Virginia. She was a runaway at the time and didn’t report the incident to authorities. But she never forgot her abuser’s face.

So when she saw Richard Cox on TV recently, she says she recognized him as the man who had sexually assaulted her decades earlier. Cox’s face was broadcast across local airwaves late last year after he was accused of and arrested for exposing himself to children in Arlington County women’s locker rooms. (In the 1988 case, the woman identified Cox during a victims’ roundtable this past April, after which Fairfax County police charged Cox with sexual assault.) A tier-three sex offender, Cox is not allowed near facilities that children use. As we reported in February, Cox’s rap sheet is lengthy: In 1992, he exposed his genitals and masturbated in front of a child at a gym; the same year, he was convicted of burglary; in 2007, he was convicted of possessing obscene materials with a minor; in 2021, he was convicted for failing to register as a sex offender; and more.