The Runback: How Dan Cox is Hypocritical on Sex Crimes

Like Most of what Dan Cox does, he says one thing but does another

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News and Politics

• Dan Cox is Lying....Again: A ten-minute Google search of Kelly Schulz's record could have saved him a bit of trouble

• Cox Needs to Speak To The Issues With No More Hyperbole To The Point of Untruths: Dan Cox’s latest email sent to his subscribers is hilarious in its hyperbole

• Ambrose Candidacy Creates National Committeewoman Vacancy: Nicolee Ambrose is running for Congress. That means she has to vacate her National Committeewoman slot and another election is coming.

The Monday Thought

This is the second half of our two-part series on how Delegate Dan Cox Put a Child Sex Offender Back on the Streets. If you didn’t catch Part One, here’s a recap.

In his role as a criminal defense attorney, Delegate Dan Cox helped an Eastern Shore man stay out of prison.

Charles Jarrett was accused of sexually assaulting a 13-year old female on May 13, 2020. The State of Maryland ultimately charged him with rape in the first and second degrees, sex offense in the third degree, assault in the second degree, and perverted practice. 

Ultimately, Cox’s client Jarrett accepted an Alford plea. An Alford plea is a special kind of plea where the accused does not admit the act and continues to claim innocence, but acknowledges that the evidence presented by the court would likely convict the accused beyond a reasonable doubt. In other words, it’s a guilty plea without admitting any guilt.

The Alford plea saw Jarrett convicted of the third count, Third Degree Sex Offense. He was sentenced to five years in prison. Except he isn’t actually serving five years in prison: only eighteen months of the sentence was executed under the plea deal, and he was released with time served after 349 days. He will remain on probation for five years.

Dan Cox made sure that Charles Jarrett is a free man right now. And while everybody is, of course, entitled to legal counsel, Dan Cox chose to represent Jarrett after Cox made cracking down on sex offenders a top for his gubernatorial campaign.

The Cox campaign website notes the following: “He has sponsored and co-sponsored legislation to end human and sex trafficking and keep registered sex offenders away from schools.”

He’s not wrong; Cox really has done all of those things.

This is true. On January 29, 2021, Cox introduced legislation to prohibit registered Sex offenders who committed an offense involving a victim under the age of eighteen from residing within 1,000 feet of a school, child care facility, park, playground, or School Bus stop. Per his bill, individuals convicted of any crime where an individual over the age of 21 committed a sexual crime against a victim under the age of 18 would be prohibited from living within 1,000 feet of a school.

In January 2020, Cox Raised Concerns About Sex Offenders Being Allowed To Live In Areas Near Where Children Congregate.

“Delegate Jesse Pippy says fellow Delegate Dan Cox brought up a concern from some people in Thurmont who were worried about a registered sex offender living near where children congregate. He also says these people reported some suspicious activity at that individual’s home. ‘And so they wanted to know what sort of options do they have to prevent someone they perceive to be a risk or a danger to minors as it pertains to those individuals. So we actually have to do some research to do on that,’ he says.”

That October, Cox told the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce: Cox Discussed

I also have a sexual predator bill that was brought to my attention that should be alarming to all of Frederick County. We do not have a law right now that that prevents someone convicted of child sexual abuse from actually living near a school or playground. We have had an incident of that arise in the County and so I drafted a bill last year. It came in after the deadline so I am working on that as well.”

And yet, Cox chose to represent Jarrett, who is living about ¼ mile from a school in Easton, and made sure that he was out of prison and on the streets.

As a reminder, Cox became Jarrett’s lawyer on November 17, 2020; he introduced this bill in the General Assembly after he began working toward his client’s release, the same client accused of crimes against a minor under the age of 18 knowing that his client lived close to a school.

During his term in Annapolis, Cox also voted to support rapists.

In both 2020 and 2021, Dan Cox was the only member of the House Judiciary Committee to vote against House Bill 147. That bill would repeal the prohibition on prosecuting spousal rape in Maryland. Not only did he vote against it in committee, but Cox voted against the bill on third reading on the House Floor and also voted against similar legislation on third reading in the Senate.

So despite the fact that Dan Cox is telling everybody that he wants to “protect children” and calling everybody who disagrees with him a “groomer”, Dan Cox is actively making sure that a child rapist is roaming the streets AND voted in committee not to help those who are married (usually women) from spousal rape. The hypocrisy is stunning and beyond the pale in a way almost never seen before in Maryland Politics.

Obviously, we need to protect our children from Dan Cox…