MAGA Senate candidate Ken Paxton, the Texas Attorney General, delivered a jaw-dropping defense of the sweetheart deal he once offered a child sex offender.
The Trump-endorsed Senate candidate, whose campaign has been marred by controversy, tried to tamp down scrutiny over his soft-pedaling of a sex abuse case despite being called out by a judge at the time.
Paxton was asked about the case of Adam Hoffman, a former Waco attorney who admitted sexually abusing a young boy, during an on-stage interview by Javier Palomarez, the president of the U.S. Hispanic Business Council in Dallas.
Paxton, 63, has been under fire on the topic since April, with critics saying his office was too lenient toward Hoffman after his trial ended in a stalemate.
“The criticism has been that I let a child predator out after one day. Well, guess what? They served 60 days. It wasn’t what we wanted. We did not control that situation. We did our best to present the case. The jury decided what it was,” he said, referring to a hung jury.
“We wanted to retry it, and we decided... we needed to protect this kid,” he continued, since the victim did not want to retestify.
Paxton’s comment was quickly called out online for being “misleading.” That’s because after the hung jury trial, his prosecutors offered Hoffman a plea deal of less than 60 days: time served plus one day in jail. But the judge wouldn’t accept it.
“One day. Seriously? Somebody has to sell me on the wisdom of it,” Judge Roy Sparkman said at the April 16 hearing, the Texas Tribune notes.
Ultimately, the parties reached a deal on a 60-day sentence, which required Hoffman to plead guilty to reduced charges of indecent assault and displaying harmful materials to a minor—both misdemeanors. He did not have to register as a sex offender. Hoffman was released after 29 days.
Hoffman’s victim was one of his son’s friends, who testified that Hoffman sexually assaulted him repeatedly over three years, beginning when he was in third grade.
Neither Paxton’s campaign nor his office immediately responded to a request for comment.
In his conversation in Dallas, Paxton spoke at length about the case, which initially began with Hoffman facing up to life in prison without parole. However, a hung jury spurred Paxton’s office to then seek a lesser sentence. A major factor was that the victim did not want to testify again.
“The child emphasized that he preferred to move on with his life and prioritize his mental and emotional health,” two of his prosecutors, Brenda Cantu and Dorian Cotlar, wrote in a letter to a state lawmaker this spring, amid scrutiny.
Paxton said he understood that.
“In some ways I don’t blame that kid for not wanting to go through that one more time,” he said.
About the attack ads, Paxton claimed it is “so dishonest to present it any other way, because that is actually what happened.”
The fallout from the case has been politically tricky for Paxton, who has positioned himself as a tough-on-crime candidate. He faces Democrat James Talarico, in what has become one of the most anticipated midterm races of 2026.
In addition to the Hoffman case, Paxton has been campaigning amid a host of controversies.
Last year, his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce on “biblical grounds,” accusing him of adultery after he reportedly confessed an affair to staff. In July, after he was spotted in London with his alleged mistress, Christian influencer Tracy Duhon, the tourist who filmed Paxton alleged that he lunged at him to try to get his phone.
Paxton was also indicted on felony securities fraud charges in 2015. In a March 2024 pre-trial agreement, he did not enter a plea, but had to complete community service and pay restitution.
In 2020, Paxton’s own deputies reported him to the FBI for alleged abuse of office. Five years later, his deputies were awarded $6.6 million for their improper termination.
In 2023, those whistleblower claims contributed to the Texas House impeaching Paxton, alleging corruption and bribery. The state senate acquitted him amid pressure from Trump to do so.
