In February 2016, a young woman was handed a glass of punch at a Baylor University fraternity party, and according to arrest affidavits, she became disoriented. Jacob Anderson took her to a secluded part of the grounds behind a tent so she could get some air, the affidavit states. Once they were away from the crowd, he sexually assaulted her, according to the documents.
The young woman did all the right things. She was taken to a local hospital. She contacted police. She spoke with prosecutors. But the man charged with her rape has now agreed to a plea deal that would reduce the rape charges to third degree felony charge of unlawful restraint. In exchange for this plea, the DA dismissed 4 charges of sexual assault and recommended three years of deferred probation and $400 fine and counseling.
We, the undersigned, are outraged about this plea bargain offer from the outgoing DA. We trust the people doing the pre-sentence investigation and we trust Judge Strother to ultimately make the right decision in this matter. We trust that Judge Strother is an honorable and decent man and we know he is going to give this plea bargain a lot of thought and attention. We also recognize this this petition is symbolic in nature, and is an effort to stand with this rape victim as she seeks justice. And we know that judges are under an obligation to not respond to public clamor in their rulings.
We, the undersigned, stand with Erin Albin in her efforts to call attention to the travesty of this plea agreement.
We feel strongly about advocating for survivors of sexual assault.
We stand with the family in their statement that says in part, "Just when you think the Baylor rape scandal can't get any worse....This is an absolute travesty... By agreeing to this plea, (prosecutor) Hilary LaBorde and the McLennan County DA's office have allowed that rape is no longer a crime in Texas. They are telling the rapists and sexual predators, 'Go ahead and violently rape, choke to near death and abandon your unconscious, ravaged and used-up victim and we will make darn sure you get some counseling. Even if a grand jury indicts you on four counts of sexual assault, we don't care...."
Oh, and 'All you rape victims, don't bother to report it, because we will put you through hell for years, make promises about getting a conviction and lie to you about not accepting a plea the whole time. We will give your rapist counseling and drop all charges and let him go free. We don't care about about justice and we don't care about you."
We, the undersigned, respectfully request that the authorities carefully consider the evidence in this case and give this young sexual assault victim her day in court and reject this plea bargain.
