Hamilton County, OH — Authorities in Hamilton County are asking other potential victims to come forward after a Loveland police officer was caught drugging and raping a 25-year-old man in his home.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters announced in a news release this week that a grand jury indicted Anthony Pecord, 48, on eight counts of rape and eight counts of sexual battery.

Pecord is accused of drugging his victim and raping him eight times in a single night. Though Pecord has since resigned from the department, he was still a sworn officer with the Loveland Police Department, while “administering an intoxicant to (the victim) surreptitiously” before repeatedly raping him on eight separate instances in a night.

According to a report from WCPO:

WCPO examined Pecord’s personnel file after the initial charges were filed and found that the city of Loveland began investigating him the day following the alleged assault. In a Jan. 25 memo to Pecord, police Chief Dennis Rahe put him on paid administrative leave and instructed him to remain available for questioning.

Pecord resigned a month later and turned himself in to authorities less than a week after that, on March 5. A judge held Pecord in the Hamilton County Justice Center on a $1 million bond, where he remained Monday.

The rapes took place on Jan 24 and after learning the details of the offense, prosecutors indicated their concern “that more victims may be out there.”

Pecord’s attorney, Stew Mathews, said he would, “be extremely surprised if there are other alleged victims.”

According to a Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office incident report, a sexual assault kit was completed at a hospital that same night, meaning the victim must have recovered from the drugs and realized what happened.

“We take all cases of sexual assault seriously,” Deters said in a statement on Monday. “But when acts like this are committed by someone in a position of power and public trust, it is especially sickening. Once this behavior was reported, the City of Loveland and the Loveland Police Department cooperated fully with the investigation.”

WCPO has been changing their policy recently to cut down on the release of mugshots, however, they released the officer’s mugshot just in case it helps other victims identify their rapist.

Prosecutors asked anyone with information about other potential victims to contact Hamilton County Sheriff’s Detective Jack Losekamp at 513-595-7484.

According to Cincinnati.com, Pecord has been with the department for nearly a decade and he has several questionable entries in his record.

According to Pecord’s personnel file, he did not complete training on working with victims of sexual assault and has been reprimanded more than once for using inappropriate language in the office and with the public.

Multiple performance evaluations dating back to 2013 mention Pecord’s use of inappropriate language. A 2014 performance evaluation states Pecord received coaching sessions and an official reprimand for inappropriate communications.

A citizen complaint investigation conducted in March 2014 found Pecord exhibited a “lack of professionalism” when dealing with a resident’s call for a trespassing incident. The complainant told police Pecord was “pissed off from the beginning” and “nasty” towards her, leaving her feeling “humiliated.”

Pecord now faces up to 88 years in prison if he is convicted on all charges, the prosecutor said. He remains behind bars at the Hamilton County Justice Center where he is being held on a $1 million bond.

As TFTP reports on a regular basis, police sexual misconduct is one of America’s dirty little secrets. Barely a day goes by without news of a law enforcement officer’s arrest for raping adults and children alike. There are so many instances of officers arrested for sexual misconduct that the Free Thought Project cannot report on all of them.

It is a sad day when police officers — the ones who claim to protect us — are caught preying on society.. However, there are a lot of sad days as this situation plays out like a broken record, over and over again. Luckily, this alleged monster was caught and is off the streets for now.

Article posted with permission from Matt Agorist