Verdict Returned In Richard Cox Child Porn Case

ARLINGTON, VA — An Arlington County jury found Richard K. Cox guilty on Wednesday of two counts of possession of child pornography, second or subsequent offense, according to authorities.

After two hours of deliberation, the jury reached a guilty verdict, deciding that Cox knowingly possessed child sexual abuse materials, according to a release from the Commonwealth's Attorney's office. In 2007, Cox was convicted in Fairfax County on nine counts of possession of child pornography.

Deputy Commonwealth's Attorneys Nassir Aboreden and Abhimanyu Mehta prosecuted the case.

"This is a case about voiceless victims," Aboreden said, in his closing arguments. "Although we don't know their names, what happened to them was a crime. Richard Cox must be held accountable."

Cox is due back in court on May 1 for sentencing. He faces a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison, according to court documents.

"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," Commonwealth's Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti said. "We can never heal the trauma of those children, but we can hold accountable people like Mr. Cox, who create the conditions that perpetuate the exploitation of children and make it prohibitable. The jury had a difficult job and I thank them profusely for their service."