ROCKINGHAM — A convicted sex offender with a pending charge from earlier this summer is again charged with a violation.
Richmond County Jail records show 35-year-old Michael Wayne Cox Jr. is being held on a charge of failing to register as a sex offender. He was booked at 5:11 p.m. Aug. 20 and no court date or bond information was available at the time of this writing.
Cox, who is currently on parole until March 1, 2025, is currently facing a pending charge of being a sex offender unlawfully on premises after he was allegedly seen at Hamlet Middle School during softball practice for the Parks and Recreation Department.
His next court appearance for that charge is scheduled for Oct. 7.
Records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction show Cox was scheduled to be released from Tabor Correctional Institution on Aug. 20 for a three-month reimprison violation.
Records show Cox has been on the N.C. Sex Offender Registry since May 6, 2016 after being convicted on five counts of taking indecent liberties with a minor.
According to the Registry, the incidents took place in 2012 when Cox was 23 years old (24 in one case) and the victim was 9.
Cox was released from prison in March after serving time for two counts of failing to notify a change of address, in each 2021 and 2022.
Cox was initially given a suspended sentence on his original convictions, but his probation was revoked in 2018, landing him behind bars for nearly three years.
He was released from prison in November 2021, but returned in September 2022 for the aforementioned address-change violations.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
