Kevin Burke Roberts told a judge Monday he was still working to battle his narcissistic and selfish tendencies. He said he was committed to fighting his alcohol abuse problem. Roberts also apologized to his family and friends for the behavior that landed him in a six-month Idaho Department of Correction “rider” program in connection with a violent sexual incident with a woman he met in a Downtown bar in the summer of 2011.

But Roberts did not apologize to the woman Monday when he asked 4th District Judge Deborah Bail to place him on probation instead of prison time for his aggravated assault conviction earlier this year. When he pleaded guilty earlier this year, Roberts said he was sorry for what happened to the woman, but he did not mention her Monday.

While that angers the victim, she told the Idaho Statesman Monday she was more concerned for other women Roberts will meet in the future. The Statesman generally does not identify crime victims by name.

“I’m not at all surprised he is not concerned (about me) ... The next time there is somebody else, he will do it again,” the woman said after Roberts’ court hearing Monday. “Honestly, I don’t think any (treatment) can help whatever (Roberts) has going on.”

The woman also said she was not happy with Ada County prosecutors in the way they handled Roberts’ trial when he was charged with rape or how they didn’t fight harder for a prison sentence after he pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, pointing out that some non-violent offenders are likely serving time for crimes “that are not near as heinous and inhumane.”

“This whole thing makes my skin crawl. It’s a joke,” she said. “I’m really angry towards the (justice) system right now.”

Roberts told Bail on Monday he was eager to go on probation and start domestic violence treatment and more personal therapy, saying the “rider” helped him understand he has a lot more work to do.

“I thought I was this great guy that was just having fun, and all that time I was ... hurting the people around me, and it was all wrapped up in my selfishness, my arrogance and my alcoholism,” Roberts said.

RAPE TRIAL

Police say the 23-year-old Roberts picked up an intoxicated woman in the China Blue bar in Downtown Boise in the early-morning hours of July 16, 2011, and told her he would drive her home on his motorcycle. Police say Roberts eventually took the woman to the desert off Gowen Road and had sex with her, choking her until she was unconscious, then leaving her injured and alone off Gowen Road south of Boise. The woman was found later walking on the side of the road, holding her shoes and covered in dirt and debris. She was too hysterical to tell the passerby who picked her up what had happened.

Roberts has maintained since his arrest in July that the sex with the woman was consensual and that the woman got angry with him only when it was over, which is why he left her in the desert.

In the plea agreement, Roberts did admit to putting his hands around the woman’s neck in an “attempt to commit a violent injury,” according to court records.

By pleading guilty to aggravated assault, Roberts will not have to register as a sex offender.

RIDER PROGRAM

Bail sentenced Roberts to a five-year prison term in March, but placed him on retained jurisdiction, commonly known as the rider program.

Prosecutors agreed to recommend the rider as part of the plea agreement, and Bail granted that request.

There are several different rider programs, which can last for six months or longer at an IDOC facility. When the rider is over, the judge studies reports generated by the IDOC staff then decides if the offender should go to prison or be released on probation.

Bail questioned the effectiveness of the rider program Roberts was placed in by the IDOC, which she said seemed to emphasize substance abuse issues and didn’t seem to address issues of violence toward others. Bail said Roberts would benefit from therapy options in the community, such as domestic violence treatment, which would treat Roberts’ issues more directly.

IDOC officials said Monday the rider Roberts was placed in was designed for people with anger management issues and emphasizes Moral Reconation Therapy (also known as thinking errors ) along with some substance abuse treatment. IDOC officials say Roberts was in the program for eight months, which is two months longer than usual, but did not elaborate why. IDOC officials said Monday their preliminary suggestion is that Roberts also get some kind of sex-offender treatment while on probation.

It’s unclear if that will happen.

PROBATION VS. PRISON

Ada County Deputy prosecutor Jean Fisher told Bail Monday she did not think Roberts earned probation.

Defense attorney Scott Gatewood disagreed, saying he felt Roberts made excellent progress in the rider and that probation, with domestic violence treatment, would be a great help. Roberts also said he was committed to alcohol rehabilitation, and already has a sponsor to help him with that.

Roberts said he learned in the rider program how to be “a member of society that is not a complete and total screwup and is not out causing havoc.”

Bail added some specific restrictions, saying Roberts must stay at the Ada County Jail for up to an additional six months and use furloughs to get domestic violence treatment until he can be placed in an alcohol-free halfway-house. Once released from jail, Roberts will have a curfew and a total alcohol ban. He will not be allowed to work in or even go to a place where alcohol sales are a main part of the business. He has a half-mile no-contact zone for the victim in the case. Bail also warned Roberts that if he messed up his probation, prison was an option.

“If you are willing to work at it, I’ll consider you for probation,” Bail told Roberts Monday. “If you are not, you can deal with the Department of Correction.”

Patrick Orr: 377-6219, Twitter: @_Orr