A former B.C. court judge has stunned friends and colleagues by confessing he is guilty of sexually assaulting teenage girls, including one count of causing bodily harm.

In a courtroom in Prince George on Monday morning, David William Ramsay pleaded guilty to a total of five charges.

Five other charges against him were stayed.

The charges date back to a nine-year period when Ramsay was a provincial court judge.

The balding, grey-haired former judge stood in the prisoner's box and pleaded guilty to the five charges, including buying sex from minors, sexual assault causing bodily harm and breach of trust.

Ramsay never looked at his victims, four young women who hugged friends and social workers as court adjourned. The victims, who were aged 12 to 16 years when they were assaulted, had all appeared before Ramsay in court in Prince George.

He knew their previous histories of being sexually abused, about their suicidal thoughts and their lives on the street. As the Crown prosecutor pointed out, Ramsay knew how vulnerable these girls were.

According to an agreed statement of fact read in court, "He picked the girls up on the street on different occasions, drove them to a rural area near the jail and paid them for sex."

When one girl asked him to use a condom he slammed her head on the dashboard until she bled, then chased her when she ran away. He slapped her, sexually assaulted her, called her a whore and smiled, the court was told.

Another girl was left naked near the highway and threatened with death if she told anyone.

Ramsay's lawyer said his client doesn't remember all the details, but he doesn't deny them and accepts responsibility for what happened.

The prosecutor is asking for a five-year prison term.

Ramsay is free on bail until he is sentenced on June 1.