‘Served 60 days’: Ken Paxton hits back at critics who say he let a child abuse defendant out in one day, and it backfires

A television ad from Texas Democrats has put Attorney General Ken Paxton on the defensive over a plea deal in a Waco child sex abuse case. Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, responded in remarks that a news account later posted as a video clip on X.

State Rep. James Talarico, a Democrat running against Paxton, recently debuted the ad attacking him over the agreement. Paxton brought up the matter after talking about his office’s work against human trafficking. The clip was posted on Monday by the account Headquarters.

According to Raw Story, Paxton said he had to deal with “this crazy ad that’s been running against me saying that I let this predator out of jail.” He argued the attack was “not quite as it’s presented” and “actually very misrepresented what actually happened.” He also said, “And yet the criticism has been that I let a child predator out [after] one day. Well, guess what? They served 60 days.”

A hung jury and a later misdemeanor plea shaped the sentence

The case involved Adam Hoffman, a former Waco attorney. His 2025 trial on a felony child sex abuse charge ended in a hung jury. Paxton said the office had “a case with an underage person where we got a 7-5 jury split” and that the child witness “didn’t want to testify again.”

“So our child witness, who was our best evidence, didn’t want to testify again.. We could have subpoenaed that person, that kid, and made them testify,” Paxton said. Hoffman had initially faced up to life in prison without parole before pleading guilty in April to two misdemeanors, indecent assault and displaying harmful materials to a minor, Waco station KWTX reported.

The first offer from Paxton’s office called for one day in jail, according to The Texas Tribune. Visiting Judge Roy Sparkman said at an April 16 hearing, “One day. Seriously? Somebody has to sell me on the wisdom of it.” KWTX reported that the offer later grew to 30 days in jail.

At Hoffman’s April 27 sentencing, the boy’s mother told Sparkman, “My son just still doesn’t want to testify again, but 30 days isn’t enough,” the Tribune reported. Sparkman then doubled the term to 60 days. Hoffman also avoided registering as a sex offender because the plea did not specify the victim’s age, the newspaper reported.

Hoffman left the McLennan County Jail in May after serving 29 days of that 60-day sentence, KWTX reported. The station said inmates there typically earn two days of credit for each day served with good behavior.

As of writing, the Headquarters clip had more than 2.5 million views on X. Paxton’s troubles go beyond this incident, as he has faced scrutiny over ties to a Baptist power broker accused of abusing eight men.

Some commentators focused on Paxton’s choice of words. Left-leaning influencer Jared Shult wrote, “No way he thought this was a good line.” Democratic Texas House candidate Sara McGee posted, “Omg he is STILL lying,” and added, “A completely corrupt failure at every level.”

Others treated the 60-day figure itself as the issue. Progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen wrote, “He’s bragging about a two-month sentence for a serial child molester,” then added, “Two months.” Democratic influencer Harry Sisson responded, “Holy s—… the Republican Party, everyone!” Friendly Atheist writer Hemant Mehta wrote, “Calm down, everyone. He let the child predator out after two months. Problem solved.”

Progressive activist Lauren Windsor posted, “Ken Paxton: Tougher on pot smokers than pedophiles.” Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance said, “Not really the punch back he seems to think it is.” Political reporter Jake Lahut wrote, “At a certain level, only God-given talent could produce this type of answer,” and added, “It just can’t be taught.”