Arlington Schools Waited Months to Implement Protocols to Keep Sex Offenders Out of Women’s Bathrooms. Why?

Tier-three sex offender Richard Kenneth Cox exposed his penis multiple times to women and girls throughout Northern Virginia in recreational locker rooms last year. Cox, who is now facing 28 counts of possessing child porn, taking indecent liberties with children, indecent exposure, and being within 100 feet of schools, identifies as a woman. Dozens of his victims have seen evidence that proves otherwise.

Regardless, when Cox appeared in court on Friday for a motion hearing, a judge and his public defender referred to him as “Ms. Cox” and “ma’am,” and used female pronouns to describe Cox. The sex pest will face trial in February.

Cox insists that because he identifies as a woman, he should be allowed to use women’s facilities. Progressive gender-inclusive policies passed by Arlington Public Schools — which allow individuals to use the bathroom or locker room that corresponds to their gender identity — validate Cox’s reasoning.

In September, Cox exposed himself to women and children in the locker room of the Arlington Public Schools-operated Washington-Liberty High School aquatics center. After school hours WLHS opens its facilities to the public for swim classes and recreational use.

Pool and district staff members did not immediately remove Cox from the locker room after women reported his presence. It wasn’t until October, when police were called to the scene to investigate reports of an exposure, that the district looked into Cox and found that he was a registered sex offender.

Cox’s case has brought concern over if and how APS’s sprawling gender policies endanger children and enable sex pests to access women’s locker rooms. What’s more, evidence received via public records request from Defending Education and shared with National Review shows that Arlington Public Schools waited months to implement security protocols that would prevent such an event from happening again.

In January, ABC 7 News requested information “about a registered sex offender using the W-L pool.” The district crafted the following talking points in response:

• APS permits pool patrons to access restrooms and facilities that correspond to their gender identity.

• This did not occur during school hours or when school groups were in the pool. The incident happened during community use hours

• We take every report of concerning or unsafe behavior very seriously and do not tolerate behaviors from any individual who is threatening or making others feel unsafe.

• APS responded to all patron concerns related to this matter in a timely manner

• Staff confronted the individual and took appropriate and immediate action to investigate, notify law enforcement, and prevent the individual from returning to our pool faciltiies

• Aquatics staff also notified County pool staff in case he tried to access the Long Bridge pool.

• The Aquatics Centers are managed by APS, not by the individual schools.

• Because our Aquatics Centers are community use, they do not have the same visitor management procedures as schools do.

• As with all incidents, we are reviewing our procedures to make sure this doesn’t happen again.

Then in early February, APS updated its visitor management procedures for district-operated pools. Effective February 15, APS required visitors to “take a photo upon arrival to sign in to the pool’s member management system” for check-in and to be checked on the Raptor Visitor Management System against the sex offender database. The new rules also banned community members who were not swimming from using shower facilities and disallowed “shower-only general admission and passes.”

Defending Education questions why it took APS months to implement the rules.

“Arlington Public Schools has shown that child safeguarding is not a priority,” Defending Education’s senior director of communications Erika Sanzi told National Review. “District officials knew a registered sex offender had accessed school facilities and waited months to act. Their negligence is indefensible. APS seems more focused on sanctifying partisan ideology than protecting children, and parents deserve answers about how this was allowed to happen.”

Although the district did eventually roll out the security measures to prevent sex offenders from gaining access to women’s locker rooms, the district has not rescinded its policy that allowed Cox to enter the locker room in the first place. Before police learned Cox was a sex offender, multiple APS staff members told concerned parents that Cox could use the bathroom of his choice pursuant to district policy.

And, in almost every public statement regarding the Cox incident, APS has assured community members that the district remains dedicated to its gender policies. When he introduced the updated pool guidance to families in an email, for example, APS Superintendent Francisco Durán said that “Arlington Public Schools will continue to foster an inclusive community for all, including those who identify as members of the LGBTQ+ community. Our facilities are designed to be safe, welcoming spaces where our community can come to connect, engage and focus on their health and well-being.”