Stephen James Porter, 51, appeared in the ACT Supreme Court via audio-visual link on Thursday to plead guilty to four charges.

They were maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, using a child for the production of exploitation material, child grooming, and possessing child exploitation material.

The offences, all involving boys, were committed between January 2009 and June 2020.

Acting Justice Verity McWilliam listed the matter for a disputed facts hearing in early November, with the court told there was conjecture about the number of occasions on which Porter abused one of his victims.

Police alleged, when the 51-year-old Macgregor man was first charged last year, that he had abused his position as a juniors coach at the Ainslie Football Club to gain access to this particular boy.

He did not coach the boy's team but approached the child's parents and offered private coaching sessions, which were accepted, according to court documents.

"It is estimated that [Porter] engaged in sexual intercourse with [that boy] approximately 45 times over the period of three-four years," police alleged at the outset of the court case.

The 51-year-old spent more than a fortnight in custody before being granted bail in July 2020, with conditions including that he must not go to the Ainslie Football Club.

He remains on conditional liberty despite his four guilty pleas on Thursday.

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At one stage, the number of charges against Porter grew to 18.

He was committed for trial in February after pleading not guilty to all of them.

But prosecutors filed a new indictment on Wednesday with just four counts, to which Porter has now pleaded guilty.

The case has been listed for directions before a registrar next Thursday, ahead of the disputed facts process later in the year.

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