CTV News has learned a man known as the Motorcycle Rapist will soon be out of prison.

In 1989, John O’Brien was convicted of raping eight women in Nova Scotia. He was sentenced to 37 years in prison, and now qualifies for statutory release.

According to the Parole Board of Canada, O’Brien is set to be released on April 3, which means he would have served two-thirds of his 37-year sentence.

Parole board documents indicate O’Brien is now in his early 50s. His criminal record dates back to the mid 1970s.

In the late 1980s, he was convicted of a number of offences including five counts of sexual assault with a weapon, two counts of sexual assault, and two counts of using a firearm while committing an offence.

O’Brien was dubbed the Motorcycle Rapist because he was wearing a helmet and riding a motorcycle in many of the cases, most of which occurred in rural and secluded areas in and around the Halifax area.

The documents also indicate O’Brien’s case-management team reports there is little evidence to suggest his risk levels have been reduced, and that he has a pattern of persistent violent behaviour.

They say O’Brien has, in their view, “the potential to be very dangerous” and that his most recent psychological assessment shows his “risk of sexually offending is in the high end of the moderate range” and his “risk for general violence is in the moderate range.”

O’Brien has had a number of private family visits without incident, and he has participated in a number of programs, including the sex offender maintenance program, where he was described as open and engaged in the process.

There are conditions tied to his statutory release; he is to have no contact with his victims or with members of their families.

O’Brien must reside in a halfway house, but there is no indication where he is being released to.

According to parole documents, he will be closely monitored and supervised.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Jacqueline Foster