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Waco, TX – A former Baylor University fraternity boy accused of rape will not serve any time behind bars, or have to register as a sex offender, if the judge approves his plea agreement.
“In my nearly 40 years of law practice, I’ve never seen a sweetheart deal like this before,” said the victim’s attorney, Vic Feazell, who has strenuously objected to the plea agreement on his client’s behalf.
“It pays to be rich and white in McLennan County when you’re charged with a crime,” Feazell said.
Jacob Anderson, 24, was indicted on four charges of sexual assault, after he was accused of raping another student at a party of Feb. 21, 2016, KXXV reported.
On Monday, Anderson pleaded “no contest” to the lesser charge of unlawful restraint. In return, the four counts of sexual assault against him would be dismissed.
Anderson would be ordered to serve three years of unadjudicated probation, to pay a $400 fine, and to go to counseling as conditions of his plea agreement, NBC News reported.
“Most traffic tickets are more than that,” Feazell complained about Anderson’s proposed fine.
The victim and her parents have expressed outrage at the plea deal, and called on 19th District Court Judge Ralph Strother to reject the prosecutor’s agreement, KTVT reported.
The judge ordered a pre-sentencing investigation and was expected to schedule a sentencing hearing in about six weeks.
“I know the judge in this case, and he’s an honorable man,” Feazell said. “I don’t know what he’s going to do. I want him to think about it, pray about it and do what’s right.”
His client was in her teens when she was sexually assaulted by the former president of Baylor’s Phi Delta Theta fraternity, according to KTVT.
“This guy violently raped me multiple times, choked me and when I blacked out he dumped me face down on the ground and left me to die,” the victim said in a statement Feazell shared with NBC News.
“When I woke up aspirating on my own vomit, my friends immediately took me to the hospital and we reported it to the Waco police, Baylor police and Title IX office,” the victim wrote.
Waco Police Sergeant Patrick Swanton said the victim told investigators she drank some punch she was given at a fraternity party and became disoriented, KXXV reported.
Then the victim said Anderson took her out to an isolated spot in the backyard of the property where he raped her multiple times.
After an investigation, Anderson was arrested, and eventually expelled from Baylor University.
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna has defended the sweetheart plea deal offered to the alleged sexual predator.
“The McLennan County District Attorney’s office is known throughout the state for our aggressive prosecution of sexual assault cases, to say otherwise is simply absurd,” Reyna said in a written statement, KWTX reported.
He said the despite the victim believing she was drugged, they don’t have evidence to prove that.
The victim’s family pushed back through their attorney.
“This victim was told there was enormous amounts of evidence and a conviction was almost sure. And now two and half years later after living through hell, having the trial delayed a week before it was to occur and then never rescheduled, the DA has decided not to bother even trying to get justice,” the family said in a written statement.
“By agreeing to this plea, Hillary Laborde and the DA’s office have allowed that rape is no longer a crime in Texas,” they wrote, naming the assistant district attorney who offered Anderson the deal.
“We cannot even imagine what is going on in that DA office. Hilary told us she does not think a jury in Waco is ready to convict someone if this was only his first rape,” the family said.
“’I have had success in trying college-aged defendants yes, but in retrospect, ONLY when they have multiple victims,’” the family said they were told. “‘In a prior loss of a case with completely different facts she told us, ‘In short, I think this jury was looking for any excuse not to find an innocent looking young defendant guilty. They engaged in a lot of victim blaming.’”
If Strother chooses to reject the plea deal after reviewing the report, Anderson could withdraw his “no contest” plea and the case would likely proceed to trial, the Waco Tribune reported.
The victim and her family want the case to go to trial, according to their attorney.
Baylor University has been under the sexual assault microscope ever since allegations of rape began appearing against members of the school’s football team.
Just as disturbing were allegations that the university had ignored multiple reported rapes and other sexual assaults during a multi-year period.
The NCAA completed its investigation into those allegations and notified Baylor University on Oct. 1, the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram reported.
Among the allegations, a “lack of institutional control” was cited on the part of former football coach Art Briles.