A Sydney police officer who secretly filmed a colleague while they were having sex and uploaded it to a social media platform may be spared jail time over his "demeaning" and "appalling" behaviour.

Timothy Michael Patterson, 28, has been found guilty of three counts of filming the woman in a private act without her consent and of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend.

Downing Centre Local Court magistrate Clare Farnan on Thursday found the seriousness of his offending meant he could be imprisoned.

However she ordered Patterson to be assessed for an intensive corrections order, which would allow him to serve his sentence in the community under strict supervision.

Patterson's conduct towards his sexual partner was "demeaning" and "appalling", the magistrate said.

"Certainly the community is concerned about this sort of behaviour."

Sharing the videos with people who could recognise the victim had lifted the seriousness of Patterson's offences, Ms Farnan noted.

The off-duty officers had consensual sex at a Sydney hotel in July 2017 but the magistrate found the woman did not consent to being filmed.

Patterson made three videos, two of which were shared with eight other officers in a Snapchat group called "No Snitches".

Patterson shared the videos to a Snapchat group called "No Snitches". ( AAP: David Moir )

He'd argued the woman did consent to the filming but didn't know he was posting the videos to the Snapchat group — which he did to boast to his mates.

Today, Patterson's lawyer Andrew Boe said the "selfish" and "stupid" act was the result of a "brain snap" by an otherwise decent young man.

The offending was not on the higher end of the scale, he argued, as the videos shared on Snapchat disappeared within seconds.

"The nature of the filming is so transitory," the lawyer said.

But prosecutor Mardi Cartwright argued Patterson should be jailed.

She noted he'd been careful to conceal his identity in the videos and did not consider the embarrassment sharing them would cause the victim.

"The offender is truly only remorseful for the impact that this has had on himself, his family and the police force," the prosecutor said.

The matter is due to return to court on June 15.

AAP