Arrest Made in Indy Baby Case as Advocates Push Safe Haven Laws

INDIANAPOLIS — A community tip has led Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) investigators to the mother of a newborn infant discovered abandoned along a wooded trail late last week near Lace Bark Lane and Long Wharf Drive.

According to police, the mother has since received medical treatment, and the baby remains in stable condition at Riley Hospital for Children. Detectives also identified and arrested an adult male, (Pierre Hernsley) —believed to be the baby’s father— on a preliminary charge of sexual misconduct with a minor.

As investigators continue working to determine the full circumstances surrounding the incident, the case sheds light on the complex and dangerous crises that young, vulnerable mothers can face during hidden pregnancies. For advocates, it serves as a reminder of why public awareness around Safe Haven laws is a matter of life and death.

When news of the Indianapolis discovery first broke, it struck a personal chord for Suzanne Hobbs, now the Director of Media Relations for the National Safe Haven Alliance. Over two decades ago, Hobbs was working as an investigative news reporter in Idaho when she received a call from a police contact about a newborn found dead in a dumpster.

“I’m standing there as the man from the funeral home reaches in and wraps the baby… and I’m just standing there thinking, ‘Yeah, I would have taken that baby. I know a lot of people that would have taken that baby. So who felt so desperate as to take a baby that they must have delivered in their house and thrown it away?'” Hobbs recalled.

The next day, Hobbs interviewed the father of the teenage girl who had hidden her pregnancy and delivered the infant alone in her bathroom. The father shared a realization that would change Hobbs’ life forever: a friend had mentioned a “Safe Haven law” emerging in other states that allowed anonymous surrender at fire stations. If his daughter had known such a law existed, he said, she could have walked across the street to the local fire station.

Determined to prevent another tragedy, Hobbs took action. She contacted her neighbor, an Idaho state senator, and successfully championed the passage of Idaho’s Safe Haven legislation in 2001. When the governor signed the bill, he presented Hobbs with one of the signing pens, telling her, “Your fingerprints are all over this law.”

Two years after helping pass the law, Hobbs and her husband—who had been told they could not conceive naturally—were on an adoption waiting list. In the summer of 2003, they received a life-changing phone call from a local hospital. A birth mother had walked into the emergency room, delivered her baby, and requested to use the state’s newly enacted Safe Haven Law before safely walking away.

“We ended up getting this cute little two-day-old baby girl from the law that I helped pass a few years earlier,” Hobbs said. That baby girl, Lily, is now 23 years old, thriving, and proud of her origins.

Indiana enacted its own Safe Haven Law in 1999. Under state law, a parent can anonymously surrender an unharmed newborn up to 60 days old at any designated location—including fire stations, police stations, hospitals, or temperature-regulated Safe Haven Baby Boxes—without fear of prosecution or criminal charges. Hobbs emphasizes that the law is designed not to punish mothers, but to offer safety, medical care, and support—especially in cases where a young mother may be in an abusive or unsafe environment.

“To me, the biggest thing is Safe Haven works. Thousands of babies have been safely surrendered. Education can save lives, not only of the baby, but of the mom,” Hobbs said. “I love the phrase ‘no name, no shame, no blame.’ You’re not going to get tackled once you hand off the baby. They want to make sure the birth mom is okay.”

Across the country, 33 infants have been safely surrendered under Safe Haven protocols so far in 2026. However, advocates note that tragically, many mothers in crisis remain unaware that these legal alternatives exist.

How to Get Help or Share Information
IMPD Investigation / Tips: IMPD expresses gratitude to community members who have come forward. Anyone with additional information relevant to this investigation is encouraged to contact IMPD Child Abuse at 317-327-6875 or call Crime Stoppers of Central Indiana at 317-262-TIPS (8477) to remain anonymous.

National Safe Haven Alliance Helpline: If you or someone you know is pregnant and in crisis, call or text 1-888-510-BABY (2229) or visit www.safehavened.org or www.SuzanneHobbs.com.