Ken Paxton's Runoff Day Comes 24 Hours After His Plea Deal Let an Alleged Pedophile Walk Free

Texas is holding a GOP runoff to determine which candidate will face Democratic nominee James Talarico for the Senate seat. The runoff includes incumbent John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton. Hoffman, a Waco attorney, was charged in 2022 with repeated sexual abuse of a 10-year-old boy and faced life without parole. After a mistrial in 2025 with jurors deadlocked 7-5, Paxton’s office reached a plea deal with prosecutors. The deal resulted in minimal jail time and no requirement to register as a sex offender. Hoffman was released from McLennan County Jail after serving 29 days of a 60-day sentence for good behavior. Cornyn and other Republicans criticized Paxton’s handling and urged reforms.

"Texas is headed into a heated run-off on Tuesday to choose which GOP candidate gets to face Dem. James Talarico for the Senate race in the midterms. They can choose either John Cornyn, the incumbent candidate, or Attorney General Ken Paxton-the fascist gremlin who's used his office to eradicate civil liberties left and right, who's sued people for doing their jobs, and... who apparently struck a sweetheart deal last month that allowed an alleged pedophile to walk free on Monday."

"Adam Hoffman, a 49-year-old former attorney from Waco, was first arrested and charged in 2022 for repeated instances of sexual abuse with a 10-year-old boy, a first-degree felony, and was facing life without parole. But after the case ended in mistrial in 2025, in which jurors were deadlocked 7-5 in favor of finding him guilty, Paxton's office struck with Hoffman's prosecutors a plea deal that gave him minimal jail time and no requirement to register as a sex offender. On Monday morning, Hoffman walked out of McLennan County Jail after serving just 29 days of his 60-day sentence for "good behavior.""

"Hoffman's case received renewed criticism earlier this month, after Cornyn tweeted, "Predators who commit these crimes tend to repeat them over and over again, until stopped. Paxton could have stopped this one, but instead cut him loose to reoffend over and over again, putting more children at risk." State Reps. Pat Curry (R-Waco) and Jeff Leach (R-Plano) also criticized Paxton's office for the way they handled the case earlier this month, urging for new reforms."

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