ARLINGTON, Virginia — Even though the trial of a sex offender, who allegedly entered a female locker room by claiming to be transgender, will not happen until February, it could still be decided by the court of public opinion through the Virginia election. A slew of cultural issues, including this case, are affecting poll numbers in the last weeks leading up to Election Day.

Richard K. Cox is facing 44 charges in Virginia’s 17th Judicial Circuit Court, including indecent exposure, indecent liberties with a child, and possession of child pornography. The 58-year-old was arrested when a parent reported seeing Cox naked in a locker room shower with the curtain open, touching himself, in front of her 5-year-old daughter. While an exact trial date has not been set, the court has blocked out three weeks in February to possibly schedule the trial.