The Daily Populous Thursday June 4th, 2026 morning edition
Authored by snopes.com and submitted by OkayButFoRealz

Claim: The office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican candidate for Senate in 2026, brokered a plea deal for a man accused of child sex abuse that allowed him to serve only 30 days in jail and not have to register as a sex offender. Rating: About this rating True Context Adam Hoffman's original trial in 2025 ended with a hung jury. Paxton's office offered a plea deal rather than re-try the case, saying the accuser "preferred to move on with his life." The deal reduced Hoffman's charges to indecent assault and display of harmful materials to a minor, accompanied by an admission of intent to abuse the victim without specifying an age. Because his admission did not include the victim's age, Hoffman was not required to register as a sex offender. The deal proposed one day of jail time, but a judge lengthened it to 30 days and the temporary loss of Hoffman's law license. Following protests, the judge increased the sentence to 60 days, but Hoffman ultimately was released after 30.

A rumor that the office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton once allowed a man accused of child sex abuse to receive a very lenient sentence circulated online in late May 2026. Social media users shared the claim leading up to and following Paxton's decisive primary runoff victory for the Republican Party's Senate nomination over Sen. John Cornyn on May 26.

The claim alleged that Waco lawyer Adam Hoffman was indicted on a felony child sexual abuse charge but ultimately served just 30 days in jail and was not required to register as as sex offender following a plea deal.

In sum, the claim was true, though there is context to the case that is crucial to note.

Media outlets in Texas reported widely about the case, but Paxton's primary win resulted in the story spreading to a larger audience outside of Texas.

Authorities arrested Hoffman in June 2022, and a grand jury later indicted him on a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a young child, a first-degree felony punishable by 25 to 99 years or life in prison.

Paxton's office took over Hoffman's case after McLennan County District Attorney Josh Tetens recused himself due to conferring with Hoffman after his arrest, but before Tetens was elected. Following a mistrial, the attorney general's office did reach an agreement where Hoffman pleaded guilty to lesser charges — indecent assault and display of harmful materials to a minor — and received a short jail sentence.

Reached for comment, Paxton's office pointed Snopes to a May 15, 2026, letter written in response to criticism from Republican state Rep. Jeff Leach, who called the terms of the plea deal "incomprehensible" in his own letter dated May 6.

The response from Paxton's office, viewable on social media, acknowledged the long history of the case but concluded the decision not to relitigate it was made with input from the victim and his family.

In the letter, Paxton's office wrote, "In this case, the child emphasized that he preferred to move on with his life and prioritize his mental and emotional health over subjection to the unimaginably difficult position of once again testifying against the man who abused him."

Local reporting on the case began in June 2022 with Hoffman's arrest. The original trial resulted in a hung jury after jurors deadlocked 7-5 in favor of conviction, and the case was declared a mistrial, according to local news outlets.

Months later, according to Houston Public Media, officials reached a plea deal on charges of indecent assault and display of harmful materials to a minor, along with an admission of intent to abuse the victim that did not specify the victim's age — which allowed Hoffman to avoid registering as a sex offender — and proposed one day of jail time for time served. The judge lengthened the sentence to 30 days and the temporary loss of Hoffman's license to practice law.

Though the prosecution made the plea deal with approval from the victim's family, the boy's mother later said she was disappointed it didn't result in more jail time, local media reported.

Following protests over the proceedings, the judge doubled Hoffman's sentence to 60 days. He ultimately was released after 30 days in late May 2026.

The boy's mother told The Texas Tribune they were put in an "impossible situation" and added, "How do you trust the prosecution to go back to a case that they want to plead out when they're the ones that are supposed to fight for it, and they don't want to do it?"

Central Texas NBC affiliate KCEN reported in early May 2026 that the Texas Bar had not yet received the paperwork for Hoffman's surrender of his license to practice law. As of this writing, the Texas Bar website still showed Hoffman as eligible to practice in the state.

Crafty_Ish1973 on June 3rd, 2026 at 23:07 UTC »

Paxton pled him down to ONE DAY in jail, but the judge imposed a 60-day sentence.

For the record, Adam Hoffman's crimes were so egregious that he was initially facing life without parole. He repeatedly raped and abused his son's best friend for over three years ending when the boy was 10 years old, and Paxton thought he was fine to serve a single day in jail for it.

HumongousBelly on June 3rd, 2026 at 23:00 UTC »

Republicans love pedos. It’s that simple.

Life-Quantity-637 on June 3rd, 2026 at 22:58 UTC »

Yeah it happens repeatedly in Texas because a crook is their AG. They have known for years and enabled his bullying of fellow citizens. Lock him up.