Fact-checking James Talarico’s attack on Texas AG Ken Paxton about sex abuse plea deal

U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico has accused his competitor, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, of being lenient on criminals who sexually abuse children.

Talarico, an educator and Democrat state lawmaker, told CBS News 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 ad on X showing TV clips about the Hoffman case.

"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."

Paxton faced similar attacks from Republicans during his primary race against Sen. John Cornyn.

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.

The Paxton campaign sent PolitiFact a May 15 letter explaining prosecutors’ rationale; it did not answer PolitiFact’s other questions.

Plea deal followed a hung jury

In 2022, authorities arrested Adam Dean Hoffman, a Waco attorney, on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child, 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.

The state attorney general’s office handled the case after McLennan County District Attorney Josh Tetens recused himself because Hoffman sought Tetens’ legal advice before Tetens took office as prosecutor. Tetens ultimately did not represent Hoffman.

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 lawmaker who questioned the deal, they said they did not want to force the victim to testify a second time. 

"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.

The victim, a boy who was a friend of Hoffman’s son, 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.

Hoffman confessed to ‘indecent assault’ 

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 by The Texas Tribune and other outlets. Those charges do not require a defendant to register as a sex offender.

An 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 (the victim’s) 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.

Prosecutors initially suggested one day in jail as part of a plea

Prosecutors agreed to credit Hoffman for time served, which amounted to one day following his initial arrest.

The child’s mother told reporters 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.

"One day. Seriously?" Sparkman said. "Somebody has to sell me on the wisdom of it." 

After a court recess, the prosecutor proposed a new agreement that included 30 days in jail and Hoffman surrendering his law license.

The prosecutor told the judge that the family accepted the plea deal.

"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 Facebook post April 26, a day before sentencing, that his office "shares the public’s concern and frustration over how the Hoffman case was resolved."

At the sentencing hearing, Sparkman asked the boy’s mother if she agreed to the deal.

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. 

Our ruling

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.

The statement is accurate but needs additional information. We rate it Mostly True. 

PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this fact-check.

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