KEN PAXTON’S DEAFENING SILENCE ON GROWING ANTISEMITISM

It is tough enough to go through something as life-altering as sexual assault, but if the victim courageously comes forward and reports their traumatic experience to authorities, they have hope that they can count on those in positions of authority to protect them and fight for them.

In the case of Paxton, he has failed miserably to protect the victims who have trusted him to fight for them.

There are numerous examples, with one of the most prominent coming out of Waco. Former Waco-area attorney Adam Hoffman was recently convicted of raping a third grade boy over the course of three years, and was facing life in prison for his heinous crimes. What did Paxton do?

He offered Hoffman a plea deal with no more jail time after he served a single day in prison and no sex offender registration. The judge was appalled at Paxton’s offer, so the Texas attorney general came back with a new deal: 30 days in prison, no sex offender registry. The judge was still not satisfied with this sweetheart deal, so he doubled Hoffman’s jail time.

When I read the Hoffman story, I thought it was a joke. There’s no way the attorney general of Texas would do this, right? Sadly, it wasn’t — and it’s part of a pattern from Paxton and his office that defies common sense and hurts victims.

In 2017, Rakim Sharkey was charged with sex trafficking multiple victims in San Antonio, including two minors. Sharkey beat, coerced, and forced these girls into prostitution at hotels. Sharkey was facing 25 years to life in prison, but the case was mishandled by Paxton’s office, and eventually, the attorney general offered Sharkey a plea deal that allowed him to avoid prison and not have to register as a sex offender.

The victims’ families were outraged, but that didn’t matter to Paxton. Just two years after the plea deal, Sharkey was arrested once again for assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful restraint, and burglary. Had Paxton done what he was supposed to do by fighting for victims and putting hardened criminals behind bars, more lives wouldn’t have been damaged by Sharkey’s violence. But he failed.

In 2022, CBS reported that Paxton’s office “quietly dropped a series of human trafficking and child sexual assault cases after losing track of one of the victims.” It’s clear this is a pattern, and not a one-off case that can be explained away. It’s a systematic problem with Paxton and how he manages his office.

Is this who we want as our senator? Is this who wants a promotion from the people of Texas? We can do better.

We have a senator in Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) who has an impeccable track record of standing up for the victims of sexual abuse throughout his entire career in public service. He has stood in the breach, fighting back against online sex trafficking platforms with FOSTA-SESTA implementation, written and passed the landmark Justice for Victims of Trafficking Act, strengthened protections and restitution for victims of child sexual abuse imagery, and increased law enforcement tools and resources to hunt traffickers and predators while supporting survivors.

KEN PAXTON MIGHT LOSE TEXAS SENATE BID. ONE PERSON COULD PROVE THE DIFFERENCE

I founded The Jensen Project to help victims. Under Paxton, he’s made it harder to look into the eyes of victims and tell them that those in positions of authority will do the right thing and fight for them.

We need to reelect Cornyn — a man victims can trust to stand up and fight.

Janet Jensen is a survivor of sexual assault, a victims’ rights advocate, and an entrepreneur who founded The Jensen Project in 2017. She serves as the organization’s CEO.