 Johnson in 1987 | |
 Johnson in 2005 | |
| Bruce Johnson | |
| Portrayed by | Vince Duvall |
| Episode | Family |
| Status | Arrested |
Bruce Johnson was the track coach at Jimmy Tate's high school in 1987. He acted as Jimmy's father figure, since Jimmy's father abandoned him while his mother was neglectful. Bruce also had Jimmy go for a track scholarship.
In 1987 when Jimmy learned that his girlfriend, Quinn Ellis, was pregnant, and the possibility that he was the father, he considered getting her an abortion, and Johnson supplied him with $200 to do so. However, Jimmy later revealed that he wasn't going through with it, deciding to raise the child himself after learning what abortions really are from Nurse Laura Graham. Bruce then insinuated that Quinn might have slept with multiple boys, and any one of them could have been the father, claiming that he heard it from some girls. In actuality, Bruce had raped Quinn in the locker rooms at one point, and he was in fact the only person other than Jimmy who was a potential father to her unborn child. Bruce likely wanted to find out if he fathered Quinn's baby, while also driving a wedge between the couple.
In 2005, Bruce is working at a gym. He began stalking Quinn and Jimmy's now teenage daughter, a Child Services orphan and delinquent named Claire Tate. Bruce arrived at the school she was attending in a white sedan and revealed his supposed relationship to her. He was eventually forced to leave by several teachers, although not before he told Claire that he'd return for her soon. After Jimmy's case was reopened, Bruce was questioned at the gym about whether he murdered Jimmy, as well as his ties to the abortion.
Bruce encountered Claire again and promised to take her out to dinner. Eventually, he managed to pick her up from school, which was later reported as an abduction. He and Claire then stayed low at a hotel, where Bruce likely planned to molest her, although a cell phone transmission picked up their location. He was then arrested on kidnapping charges despite Claire's protests.