No Jail Time For Baylor Fraternity President Accused Of Rape
WACO (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A Texas judge has accepted a plea deal allowing a former Baylor University fraternity president accused of rape to avoid serving jail time.
The plea deal had prompted outrage from the former Baylor student who filed the complaint and her parents, who had urged Judge Ralph Strother to reject the deal.
The Waco Tribune-Herald reports Strother accepted the plea deal Monday for Jacob Walter Anderson, of Garland, who was indicted on sexual assault charges in 2016 and pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of unlawful restraint.
Anderson was accused of forcing himself on a woman outside a fraternity party.
A no contest plea means a defendant does not admit guilt, but will offer no defense.
The ex-Phi Delta Theta president agrees to seek counseling and pay a $400 fine. Anderson will not be forced to register as a sex offender.
Baylor University has faced mounting criticism over its response to sex assaults on campus, and some critics contend administrators have failed to fully investigate complaints. According to federal statistics, the Southern Baptist school of 16,000 students in Waco did not report a single instance of sexual assault in a four-year span, a finding that stands in sharp contrast to the many other private and public schools that made multiple reports over the same period.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
