Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX) drew mockery after defending his office's plea deal in a child sex abuse case by noting the defendant "served 60 days."
Paxton, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, made the remark in a video clip that the news account Headquarters posted on X Monday. The clip addressed the case of Adam Hoffman, a former Waco attorney whose 2025 trial on a felony child sex abuse charge ended in a hung jury.
Paxton brought up the case in his remarks after describing his office's work against human trafficking.
"I've had to deal with this crazy ad that's been running against me saying that I let this predator out of jail," Paxton said. "It's not quite as it's presented. It's actually very misrepresented what actually happened."
Paxton's Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico (D-TX), recently debuted a television ad attacking him over the plea deal, The 19th reported.
"So we were in a case with an underage person where we got a 7-5 jury split," Paxton explained. "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."
"And yet the criticism has been that I let a child predator out [after] one day," Paxton said. "Well, guess what? They served 60 days."
Hoffman was released from the McLennan County Jail in May after serving 29 days of his 60-day sentence, Waco TV station KWTX reported. The station said inmates there typically earn two days of credit for each day served with good behavior.
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, the station reported.
The deal Paxton's office first put forward called for one day in jail, according to The Texas Tribune.
"One day. Seriously? Somebody has to sell me on the wisdom of it," visiting Judge Roy Sparkman said at an April 16 hearing, according to the Tribune.
The offer later grew to 30 days in jail, KWTX reported.
"My son just still doesn't want to testify again, but 30 days isn't enough," the boy's mother told Sparkman at Hoffman's April 27 sentencing, the Tribune reported.
Sparkman responded by doubling the sentence to 60 days, according to the Tribune. Hoffman also avoided registering as a sex offender because the plea did not specify the victim's age, the newspaper reported.
By Monday afternoon, the Headquarters clip had drawn more than 200,000 views on X, according to the platform's count.
"No way he thought this was a good line," left-leaning influencer Jared Shult wrote.
"Omg he is STILL lying," Democratic Texas House candidate Sara McGee posted. "A completely corrupt failure at every level."
"He's bragging about a two-month sentence for a serial child molester," progressive commentator Brian Tyler Cohen wrote. "Two months."
"Holy s---… the Republican Party, everyone!" Democratic influencer Harry Sisson responded.
"Calm down, everyone. He let the child predator out after two months. Problem solved," Friendly Atheist writer Hemant Mehta wrote.
"Ken Paxton: Tougher on pot smokers than pedophiles," progressive activist Lauren Windsor posted.
"Not really the punch back he seems to think it is," former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance responded.
"At a certain level, only God-given talent could produce this type of answer," political reporter Jake Lahut wrote. "It just can't be taught."
