Former Ipswich mayor Paul Pisasale has pleaded guilty to sexual assault and perverting the course of justice.

Mr Pisasale has pleaded guilty to 27 counts of fraud and one count each of receipt of secret commission by an agent, fraud of property and perjury.

The 69-year-old also admitted to sexual assault, in the form of persistently pursuing a woman in his mayoral chambers on several occasions in December 2016, and unlawful drug possession.

“The offending by the defendant in all respects undermined the council and position of mayor for his own benefit,” prosecutor Sarah Farnden said on Thursday.

“[The victim] described the power difference with him as lord mayor .... [which] made her very scared.”

Mr Pisasale read an apology to the court last month, which was covered by a suppression order that prevented media reporting it.

“My mind and ego took over and I was out of control,” he told the packed courtroom.

“I am not a bad person but I have made some very bad decisions.”

It comes after he was found guilty of extortion and sentenced to two years in jail, suspended after one year, in court hearings last year.

The former mayor was embroiled in legal action after he posed as a private investigator and demanded thousands of dollars from the ex-boyfriend of an escort he had been seeing.

It is the latest in a long string of accusations against Mr Pisasale, who has been dealing with Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission (CCC) since 2014, after allegations that he failed to declare gifts and donations and misused a charity fund.

Even so, Mr Pisasale won the 2016 Ipswich City Council election with more than 80 per cent of the vote, known to some as “Mr Ipswich” due to his popularity.

In April 2017, a CCC public hearing was held into alleged corruption at the 2016 elections. At those sessions, the former mayor was forced to defend his reliance on developers to help fund his campaigns.

Two months later, wearing a hospital gown and slippers, Mr Pisasale resigned from the top job, a day after the CCC had searched his home and office.

After he resigned it was revealed that he had been stopped a month prior at Melbourne Airport with $50,000 cash.

Mr Pisasale will be sentenced next week.