Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is facing blowback after the family of a child sex abuse victim whose case he invoked publicly contradicted his claim and said they are “tired of being used” in the election.
Talarico held a news conference July 9 outside the office of his Senate opponent, Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton, at which he accused Paxton of giving an “Epstein-style sweetheart deal” to former Waco, Texas, attorney Adam Hoffman.
However, Melissa Dieterich, a friend and spokesperson for the family, publicly disputed Talarico’s assertion that his team had been in contact. Dieterich posted a “note from the victim’s family” on Facebook, which said, “We have not given any statement to Talarico. We have not spoke to him.”
Hoffman originally was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a young child.
Earlier in 2026, Paxton’s office negotiated a plea agreement in which Hoffman pleaded guilty to indecent assault and displaying harmful material to a minor. He was sentenced to 60 days in the McLennan County Jail and was released after 29 days.
The deal was reached after a Waco, Texas, jury failed to reach a unanimous decision in 2025, resulting in a mistrial.
Assistant attorneys general in Paxton’s office have said the deal was a “difficult decision” and “was made entirely in the best interest of the child involved,” according to Spectrum News.
At his news conference, Talarico likened the plea deal to the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein.
He said that his public information request to release the “Hoffman files” was denied by Paxton’s office. He emphasized that “the victim’s mother called this a corrupt deal,” adding, “We should listen to the victim and their family.”
“We don’t need any more pedophile protectors in our government,” Talarico said at the press conference. “Adam Hoffman was a well-connected lawyer who abused an eight-year-old boy. He should be spending his life in prison … He didn’t even have to register as a sex offender in Texas; that’s how good this Epstein-style deal was.”
"Ken Paxton should have to answer questions about this sweetheart deal," he emphasized.
Well, it would seem to me that Democrats throwing out charges of Corruption should make everyone sit up and pay attention, but this isnt as it first seems.
Talarico’s claims that he had spoken to the Victims appears to be a very Bold Faced Lie and very verifiable. In his haste to make Paxton look bad he convienantly either Lies or doesn’t reveal the Full Truth.
He’s like the Liberal Asshole you meet at a Neighborhood BBQ that makes you instinctfully feel like punching him in the Nose. He’s hanging out with the Girls and Drinking “White Claw” and it just pisses you off to look at it.