Mom shoots convicted child molester found in bed with 12-year-old, IN cops say

A convicted child molester was shot as he tried to rape a 12-year-old girl in a hotel room, Indiana authorities say.

It was the victim’s mother, according to an affidavit filed in Marion County, that fired the shot May 24 at Bruce Pierce, who is classified as a “sexually violent predator” by the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

When Indianapolis police officers were dispatched to a Baymont Inn for an attempted rape call, they soon learned the man accused of committing that act had been shot and was being taken to a hospital, authorities said.

Officers spoke to family members of the victim, including one relative who said the 12-year-old “had been communicating online and on the phone” with Pierce, according to the affidavit. She further said that Pierce had been trying “to get her to run away with him.”

The relative said the 12-year-old and her sibling woke her up when their mother had not come home, police said. They went to the Baymont Inn to find her, and they found the mother in the lobby with Pierce.

It’s unclear the relationship between Pierce and the victim’s mother.

As some members of the family began taking the mother’s belongings to their vehicle, the 12-year-old girl was left alone with Pierce in the hotel room, police said.

The victim told officers Pierce told her she could sit on his bed, according to the affidavit. When she did, Pierce began grabbing her arms, pinning them to the bed as he “began to rip off her clothing,” police said.

Pierce had his gun on the bed, and the victim’s mother heard her child saying, “No, no, no,” as she returned to the room, police said. She opened the door to discover Pierce on top of her daughter, with her tank top and underwear ripped, according to the court documents.

The mother shot Pierce, and she and her daughter ran from the hotel before calling police, according to the affidavit.

A detective who responded to the hotel found “blood on the walls and floor” and several blood-covered items in the vicinity of spent shell casings and live rounds, police said.

Pierce’s injuries were not specified. He was charged with attempted rape, attempted child molesting, unlawful possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon and criminal confinement of a victim under 14 years of age, court records show.

Pierce was convicted of child molesting in two counties in 2016 and was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.

This story was originally published May 29, 2025 at 12:50 PM with the headline "Mom shoots convicted child molester found in bed with 12-year-old, IN cops say."