Noel Craven will be sentenced by magistrate Cynthia Toose on February 15 of next year.

Craven's lawyer, Simon Bright, made submissions in the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Monday that a significant community corrections order (CCO) should form part of sentencing whether or not his client is jailed.

Ms Toose adjourned sentencing while a CCO assessment is completed. 

AUGUST 30, 2016: A Ballarat music teacher who was found with more than 150 child pornography images and movies has described himself as a sex addict, a court has heard.

The Ballarat Magistrates Court on Tuesday heard police last year found 171 images and movies depicting child exploitation in possession of local singer Noel Craven.

The images and movies, which were found during a search of Craven’s house on September 15 of last year, ranged in severity from nudity to child abuse.

A number of non-illegal images were also found.

Craven, 67, a semi-retired music teacher, pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly possessing child pornography.

Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Pepe Brown told the court of the 171 images and movies, 37 were categorised as level four, which depicted penetrative sexual activities between children and adults.

Leading Senior Constable Brown said another 29 were categorised as level two, which depicted sexual activity between children.

During an interview with police, Craven admitted he searched for and downloaded the material.

He told police if he liked it he would save it to a disc and hide them under the name of hit television series The West Wing because his wife did not like that show.

While admitting he had not looked at any child exploitation images or movies in three months, he told police he was a “sexual addict”.

Magistrate Cynthia Toose adjourned the remainder of the hearing until October 25 so a psychological report is completed.