The deal allows Anderson to receive deferred probation. The ex-Phi Delta Theta president agrees to seek counseling and pay a US$400 fine. Anderson will not be forced to register as a sex offender.
The woman told authorities she was assaulted until she lost consciousness and police reported Anderson left her alone. Police said she had vomited on herself and could have choked to death in the backyard.
She has not been named and The Associated Press generally does not name possible victims of sexual assault.
"I not only have to live with his rape and the repercussions of the rape, I have to live with the knowledge that the McLennan County justice system is severely broken," the family statement quoted the woman as saying. "I have to live with the fact that after all these years and everything I have suffered, no justice was achieved."
Anderson's attorneys declined to comment Monday.
McLennan County District Attorney Abel Reyna defended the plea deal in October.
"This office stands by the plea offered and believes we have achieved the best result possible with the evidence at hand," Reyna said.
He said that evidence did not support the allegation that the victim may have been drugged.
Judge Strother said Monday that in making the decision he had the benefit of arguments filed by attorneys on both sides and a background report assembled by a probation department. He said much of the comments he saw on social media or in emails were "not fully informed, misinformed or totally uninformed."
The decision Monday was not the first time that Strother has sentenced men accused of sex crimes to probation. Last year, he sentenced a man to deferred probation after he pleaded guilty in the 2013 rape of a former Baylor student. The judge ordered the man to pay for the woman's counselling. The man told police the woman had been drunk, according to an affidavit.
Strother earlier this year sentenced a man to felony probation for the sexual assault of a former Baylor student, a punishment that came with 30 days in jail. The man, who was a student at the time and told authorities the sex was consensual, was allowed to serve the jail time on the weekends.
Strother did not return a call from The Associated Press seeking comment.
The alleged assault by Anderson happened around the same time that Baylor was engulfed in a sexual assault scandal surrounding its football team in 2016. It resulted in the firing of then-football coach Art Briles and the demotion of the university's president, Ken Starr. Athletic Director Ian McCaw was disciplined by the school and resigned.
The university has since settled several lawsuits from women who said their allegations of sexual assault by football players were mishandled or ignored.
The outrage over Anderson's plea deal also mirrors reaction to the case involving ex-Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, who was convicted in 2016 of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman outside a fraternity party. A judge in that case rejected a prosecutor's demand for a lengthy prison term and instead sentenced Turner to six months in jail. He was released from jail in September 2016 after serving three months.
Where to get help:
• If it's an emergency and you feel that you or someone else is at risk, call 111.
• If you've ever experienced sexual assault or abuse and need to talk to someone call the confidential crisis helpline Safe to Talk on: 0800 044 334 or text 4334.
• Alternatively contact your local police station
• If you have been abused, remember it's not your fault.
- AP
