In his U.S. Senate race, Democrat James Talarico said his Republican competitor Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton gave a lenient plea deal in a child sex abuse case. After a mistrial, prosecutors in Paxton’s office offered a misdemeanor plea deal.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton , a Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate, waves as he takes the stage during a primary runoff election night event after winning the Republican party's nomination May 26, 2026, in Plano, Texas.
In 2025, Texas jurors were hung over whether to convict Waco lawyer Adam Hoffman of continuous abuse of a child, a felony. A hung jury can sometimes trigger a new trial. State prosecutors in Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office said the victim did not want to testify at a second trial. They instead offered Hoffman a misdemeanor plea deal under which he served 29 days in jail and did not have to register as a sex offender.
A court filing shows that as part of the plea deal, Hoffman admitted guilt to the lesser charge of"indecent assault.
"U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico has accused his competitor, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, of being lenient on criminals who sexually abuse children.on May 27 that his Republican rival"should stop giving Epstein-style sweetheart deals to pedophiles," a reference to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The next day, Talarico’s campaign posted a social media"Adam Hoffman abused a little boy for 3 years," the post said.
"He should have faced life in prison — but Ken Paxton and his wealthy lawyer friends let Hoffman off the hook. " News coverage and court documents show that Paxton’s office approved a plea deal that allowed Hoffman to avert a lengthy sentence and avoid the sex offender registry. Prosecutors offered the agreement after the victim said he didn’t want to testify at a new trial following a hung jury.
, a first-degree felony punishable by up to life in prison. The charge applies if the offender commits two or more acts of sexual abuse over more than 30 days against someone under 14. Hoffman’s 2025 trial resulted in a mistrial after the jury was hung 7-5 over whether to convict. When a jury is unable to unanimously agree, the case can be retried.
But in Hoffman’s case, the victim said he did not want to testify again, so prosecutors reached a plea deal. In a letter prosecutors wrote to a"Although our office had no pathway to prove the elements necessary to secure a felony conviction without the child’s testimony, we did secure jail time for his abuser and admission to a lesser offense," the prosecutors wrote. , told an investigator that Hoffman raped him at Hoffman’s home.
He told an investigator the abuse started when he was around 6 years old and included touching, oral sex and anal sex, according to a prosecutor’s court document. Some factors made prosecution more difficult.
For example, a Waco police officer interviewed the child even though best practice is for a child abuse expert to conduct the interview. In another instance, the boy recanted a statement he had made about Hoffman having guns at home.
The boy’s mother told journalists that prosecutors met with her and her son about 10 months after the hung jury and said they wanted to offer Hoffman a deal to plead guilty to two misdemeanors: indecent assault and display of harmful materials to a minor, according to an article byAn April court filing shows Hoffman signed a judicial confession saying he committed indecent assault in 2022:"I did then and there, with the intent to arouse or gratify my sexual desire, touch genitals" and"acted without the complainant’s consent," it reads.
The victim was identified in that confession by his initials but his age was not included.that prosecutors told her they would like her to accept the offer but could proceed without her. She said she reluctantly agreed. During an April 16 hearing, Roy Sparkman, a visiting judge who had served as a district judge, balked at the deal. After a court recess, the prosecutor proposed a new agreement that included 30 days in jail and Hoffman surrendering his law license.
"All right," Sparkman said. "The court obviously has some reservations, but I want to respect the family’s wish. " The deal drew scrutiny from the public and officials. Tetens, the local prosecutor who had recused himself, said in a FacebookApril 26, a day before sentencing, that his office"shares the public’s concern and frustration over how the Hoffman case was resolved.
"She answered"no.""It’s just not enough," she said. "He’s dangerous. This isn’t justice, and I can’t do it.
" Sparkman increased the sentence to 60 days and required Hoffman to surrender his law license for five years. He served 29 days. Talarico’s campaign said on X that"Adam Hoffman abused a little boy" and Paxton"let Hoffman off the hook.
" Hoffman was charged with a felony, continuous sexual abuse of a child. The trial ended in a hung jury. State prosecutors in Paxton’s office agreed to a plea deal in which Hoffman pleaded guilty to misdemeanors that did not require him to register as a sex offender. In a signed, written confession, Hoffman said he touched the victim’s genitals with the"intent to arouse or gratify my sexual desire" without the victim’s consent.
Inside the child sex abuse case that resulted in Ken Paxton’s office offering a plea deal of just one day in jail, Email interview, Richard Alpert, Baylor University law professor and former Tarrant County prosecutor, May 28, 2026“As a result of the 'Big Beautiful Bill' 15 million Americans have been thrown off the healthcare that they need.
" “83% of us favor requiring a photo ID to vote. In fact, most of the civilized world requires it but not us. ” “Moulton voted with Republicans to thank ICE for protecting our homeland. He thanked ICE as they were terrorizing our communities and killed citizens in broad daylight.
” The SAVE America Act “requires everyone to re-register to vote in person and your driver’s license, REAL ID, or military ID aren’t even good enough. ” "Right now we're focused on Minneapolis because that's where we have the highest concentration of people who have violated our immigration laws.
" El presidente Donald Trump firmó una ley para aumentar el salario mínimo a $25 la hora y entra en vigor el 1 de junio. “The reason are forced to survive 22 hours a day without electricity is not due to an oil ‘blockade’ by the US. ” "There's been numerous other occasions over the years” when the federal government created a reserve similar to a new $1.776 billion anti-weaponization settlement fund.
James Talarico Adam Hoffman Plea Deal Sexual Abuse
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