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By John Ogunsemore
Pierce Cotton, an officer with Pensacola Police Department in Florida, United States was arrested last week after authorities say he had sex with a pregnant coworker without disclosing that he is HIV-positive, a violation of Florida law.
Cotton, 32, was charged with one count of violating Florida Statute 384.24(2), a third-degree felony that prohibits a person who knows they have HIV from having sexual intercourse with another person without first informing them of the infection and obtaining consent.
According to the arrest report, Cotton and the woman, who is a Pensacola Police Department civilian employee, began a relationship in 2025.
She later became pregnant with his child.
Cotton allegedly failed to tell her he had tested positive for HIV on July 15, 2025, after a blood test collected on July 11.
Investigators said the woman learned of Cotton’s HIV status only after the mother of his child from a previous relationship contacted her upon learning of the pregnancy.
The ex-partner expressed concern for the woman’s health and that of the unborn child and urged her to get tested, though she initially did not specify the reason, the report states.
When the pregnant woman confronted Cotton, he told her, “I’m sick,” according to the arrest report.
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In subsequent text messages, he allegedly wrote that the condition “is under control” and “you can’t contract it.”
When she asked what he was sick with, he replied: “I’ll preface it with this then: I can’t transmit it. You don’t have it, since you’ve already been tested for it. … I made sure I was safe so as to keep you from getting it. You and the baby can’t get it from me.”
Investigators obtained Cotton’s medical records confirming the positive HIV test.
He was arrested by Pensacola police and released last Friday on $10,000 bond.
The Pensacola Police Department placed him on administrative leave and confirmed an internal affairs investigation is underway.
Cotton previously received a Life Saving award from the department in 2023 for resuscitating a man who was drowning in a hotel pool.
He is scheduled to be arraigned in April.
The victim’s name has not been released.
