Arlington Public Schools in Virginia is tightening its security protocols months after a sex offender was accused of exposing himself in a girls’ locker room at the Washington-Liberty High School pool.
Richard Kenneth Cox, a registered sex offender, was arrested in December.
At a meeting Thursday, Superintendent Francisco Duran said after they learned Cox was in one of the school system’s aquatic centers, “we immediately prohibited the offender from being on APS property and notified the Arlington County Police Department and our county partners. We did not knowingly admit a sex offender into any of our aquatic facilities.”
Cox wasn’t at any of the school system’s pools during school hours, Duran said, and there weren’t any classes going on at the time.
Now, as part of a plan to strengthen security protocols, Duran said anyone who signs into facilities will have their IDs checked against the sex offender database before they’re allowed to enter. That change will be in place by the end of February, he said. The school’s pool is open to the public for a part of the day.
Meanwhile, School Board Chair Mary Kadera said a community member had shared concerns with her last September. Based on community feedback, the school district installed signs that “reminds all pool patrons to be considerate of others’ privacy, cover intimate body areas when using shared spaces, close shower curtains and follow all locker room etiquette guidance,” she said.
The school board, Kadera said, will continue working with the school system’s staff to review and change security protocols as necessary.
“I want to be extremely clear, this is about a sex offender’s inappropriate and indecent exposure in a locker room,” Kadera said. “The bottom line is that any individual must adhere to our policies and standards for safe conduct.”
According to court records, Cox is facing charges of indecent exposure and indecent liberties with a child less than 15 years old, among others.
WTOP’s news partner, 7News, reported a woman voiced concerns to a pool manager in September, but the manager said they allowed Cox to use the girls’ locker room because he identified as transgender.
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