The woman made a victim impact statement which was read to the court during the accused man's plea hearing on Tuesday.

Police lawyer Jenna Bridges said the man, who The Courier has chosen not to name because he avoided a conviction, had been a housemate of the victim and three others since November, 2019.

The court heard the victim and the accused were the only people in the house when the victim had a shower in early December, 2019 and saw someone that looked like they were trying to watch her from the window outside.

On another occasion the victim fell asleep on the couch when she was home alone but woke to a message from her boyfriend saying that the accused had taken a photo of her and sent it to him.

OTHER COURT NEWS

Later in December the victim had a shower and saw a person peeking through the glass outside and thought it was the accused as he was the only person home.

The court heard the victim confronted the accused and asked if it was him but he continued to deny it.

Ms Bridges said the accused's ex-girlfriend sent a message to the victim saying he had been taking photos of her when she was not aware.

The ex-girlfriend sent her a screenshot of the accused's camera reel that showed a photo of her face and two of her crotch area.

The court heard the accused had borrowed a phone from the victim's boyfriend and they found four videos of the victim in the shower naked taken through the window and a photo of her in her underwear lying on her bed taken through a gap in the door.

The accused said he did not remember taking the photos and videos.

A victim impact statement read to the court revealed the victim felt violated, disrespected and unvalidated and was made to feel like she was crazy.

She wrote she began having regular panic attacks, had trouble sleeping because of nightmares and no longer felt safe in her own home.

The statement said she had developed severe trust issues with her housemates and felt she could never live with housemates again.

"I felt inferior and preyed upon. This destroyed my self-esteem. All I can think of is who around me has seen the images and footage," she wrote.

A defence lawyer said the accused was pleading guilty to the charge of stalking at an early stage and had displayed remorse for the clear distress caused to the victim.

She said he conceded the offending was serious and was a breach of the expected right to privacy in one's own home.

The court heard there was no evidence the accused had a psychiatric illness and did not give an explanation for the offending.

Magistrate Letizia Torres said the lack of explanation was concerning.

"One of the things I am left wondering about is why was he doing this? What was going on in his mind?," she said.

"This is unacceptable behaviour that has caused harm to the victim. If we don't get to the bottom of why it is occuring how can I be confident it won't occur again?"

The accused was sentenced to a community corrections order with a requirement he complete specialised treatment for this type of offending.

Ms Torres said she did not convict the accused because it was his first time before the court.

"I encourage you to have an open mind and do the best that you can with the treatment you are offered," she said.

If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.