A court has heard that a woman cannot sleep more than three hours at a time after she saw a man publicly exposing himself on more than 20 occasions.

Police Prosecutor Senior Sergeant Craig Pullen read from the woman's victim impact statement that she had been a "happy, confident, and independent" young woman prior to the encounters.

"Since this has occurred, my life has changed completely, it's like my body never told me the threat was over," Mr Pullen read from her statement.

The victim said it was "difficult to state the extent of the harm" on her life, but that she continually worried she would see the events play out again.

The victim sat in the courtroom as Shaun Eugene Nicholson, also known as Sean Eugene Nicholson, 66, was meant to face a four-day hearing over charges of committing sexual acts without consent and stalking and intimidation.

However, Nicholson's defence counsel, barrister Lisa Hutchinson, was able to negotiate a plea agreement with the prosecution on the first day of the hearing before Magistrate John Arms in Armidale Local Court on Tuesday, October 7.

Nicholson formally pleaded guilty to three counts of committing a sexual act without consent, while the stalking and intimidation charges were withdrawn.

Nicholson and his defence agreed to a Form 1, where the further charges were not convicted, but presented to the magistrate to consider as an aggravating factor to the charges he had pleaded to.

According to police documents agreed between the prosecution and defence counsel, Nicholson regularly drove his car and parked near Stephens Bridge on Marsh Street, where he would consume a number of beers.

The three charges Nicholson pleaded guilty to spanned several months; the first being on May 23, 2023 and two other times in February of 2024.

On each of those occasions, the complainant began to cross the bridge via its pedestrian access and police said Nicholson exited his vehicle, the offender then looked directly at the complainant, opened his trousers and began masturbating.

On one occasion, the victim texted her partner that "the old man is pulling his dick out under the bridge" and mentioned it was the third time she had seen him in the act.

Nicholson was captured by CCTV performing the act on June 7 of 2024.

Police said it occurred on more than 20 occasions and constituted a "pattern of behaviour towards the complainant as she crossed the bridge".

On June 14, 2024 Nicholson agreed to a police interview where he conceded he would consume alcohol in his car and that he would frequently urinate near there, but denied purposely showing anyone his penis, he also said he never masturbated under the bridge.

Ms Hutchinson said Nicholson had previously served "two days shy of seven months in prison".

She also tendered a number of psychological reports indicating Nicholson had declining cognitive and physical health.

"In the context of the psych report, his cognitive dysfunction did support the claim he had no memory of doing the acts," Ms Hutchinson said.

Ms Hutchison said the only evidence was the admissions he had made to police about drinking beers in his car and urinating in the park.

Mr Arms said the drinking did not assist Nicholson's case that "he chose to drink on those days and he knew it lowered his inhibitions, without the addition of the intoxication, it may be the offence wouldn't have occurred".

Mr Arms said it was "quite clear" that Nicholson has had an alcohol problem and had been engaging with alcohol support services since the offending.

Given the victim impact statement, Mr Arms said he accepted the victim had endured substantial emotional harm and that the offence was not one single act, but "a continuation of the same offence on at least three occasions where pleas have been entered".

Mr Arms gave indicative prison terms of seven months, nine months and 10 months for each of the charges and handed down an aggregate 14-month prison term.

Given Nicholson's cognitive decline, Mr Arms found special circumstances for a non-parole period of seven months.

"Effectively, your time [already] served and seven months on parole," he said.

'My body never told me the threat was over' says victim of public masturbator