The former Cowra resident was recovering from a heart attack and had been to the hospital earlier that day on August 11, 2017, when she was raped by a 73-year-old man, who had been helping with her chores, gardening and running errands for her.  

In Orange District Court on Friday, Judge Peter Berman gave the man an eight-year jail sentence with six-year non-parole period for the acts, which resulted in the woman losing her independence, home, and suffering nightmares, anxiety, panic attacks and depression.

Judge Berman said the man grew up in Bathurst and was sexually assaulted by a teenage male cousin when he was young.

However, while the judge said he would take that into account he also noted that plenty of people who are sexually assaulted never hurt others.

Although the man cried in the witness box and said he loved the victim and didn't want to hurt her, Judge Berman said part of his remorse was due to a fear of dying in jail.

"He will do his time hard knowing that there's a risk of that happening and that his last few years will be spent in custody," he said.

Judge Berman said all sexual offences were serious but the harm to the woman in this case went beyond what was usually be expected.

"Given her age it's highly likely that she will experience the consequences of these offences for the rest of her life," Judge Berman said.

"The sexual offences occurred in the bed that her late husband had made for her, thereafter the bed was taken to the tip."

Judge Berman said the era the woman grew up in also influenced the feeling of ongoing shame she is still living with.

"[She] feels deeply the effects of what the offender did to her," he said. 

"To say she has been harmed by the offender's criminal activity is an understatement."

He said the victim had gone to bed when the man came into her room, and climbed on top of her, squashing her, then sexually assaulted and raped her.

The issue of consent was not questioned with the solicitor representing the Director of Public Prosecutions and Judge Berman reading out from agreed facts what was said during the assault.

"Leave me alone, it's hurting, it's hurting," the victim was quoted as saying in the facts.

However, according to the facts, he said "it's not" then pushed her legs further apart and up in the air.

"He knew full well [she] was not consenting to having sexual intercourse with him."

In a victim impact statement read out by the victim's daughter, the court heard how the woman became frail and depressed after the assault and was unable to return to her home and had since left her hometown, friends and belongings, which were given away or disposed of when she moved.

The victim has since moved into an aged-care facility near her daughter's home where she is no longer able to fulfil hobbies such as gardening.  

"She has lost her lifelong friends, she has lost her garden, her dancing, her self confidence and her self-esteem are all gone [he] took these things from her," the court heard.

"She looked at Dad's photo a few times and said, 'I wonder what he thinks of me now, do you think he will still love me if we are ever together again'."

Judge Berman also said the man had previous sexual assault convictions against "men and women, boys and girls" with the previous recorded offences taking place when he was 17, 19, 21, 25, 32, 46, 49 and 51 years old. 

"He has harmed many people in the past," Judge Berman said.

In a cross examination the solicitor representing the Director of Public Prosecutions questioned the man about comments he made in a letter to the judge and to a psychologist.

"I wanted sex too much, I couldn't hold an erection and wanted to have sex while it lasted," he was quoted as saying in the psychologists report. 

The prosecutor argued that the man's history showed he did favours for people and expected sexual gratification in return and brought up a previous offence when he groped a woman after he helped repair her vacuum cleaner. 

Barrister Ian Nash also questioned the man about his current medical issues, which included malignant skin cancers on his face. 

The earliest date the man could be released on parole is August 15, 2023, and Judge Berman said he will do his time harder than a younger man would and he may spend the last years of his life in jail.

"He probably is remorseful, he did have affection for [her] and was sorry now that he's caused such consequences for her," Judge Berman said.

"But clearly much of his remorse in the witness box was for the predicament he finds himself in.

"It's difficult to accept that the offender has only recently appreciated the wrongfulness of what he has been doing."

The sentence included an 25 per cent sentence discount because the man made an early guilty plea in Orange Local Court.