Strafford women indicted for sexually abusing children to produce child pornography

(From the U. S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri)

Two Strafford, Mo., women were indicted by a federal grand jury today for sexually abusing two children to produce child pornography.

Mallory Nicole Bunch, 40, and Jessica Nicole Pickett, 34, were charged in a five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Pickett on June 11, 2024.

Today’s indictment alleges that Mallory Bunch and Pickett participated in a conspiracy with Thomas Bunch (now deceased, formerly Mallory Bunch’s husband with whom they were involved in a polyamorous relationship) to sexually abuse two minor victims to produce child pornography from Sept. 2, 2016, to May 23, 2024.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Mallory Bunch used her cell phone to record the sexual abuse of a child, identified as Minor Victim 1, at the request of Thomas Bunch. She allegedly sent videos of the sexual abuse to Thomas Bunch through text messages. In addition to the conspiracy, today’s indictment charges Mallory Bunch with one count of using Minor Victim 1 to produce child pornography and one count of distributing child pornography.

Pickett is also charged with one count of using a child victim, identified as Minor Victim 2, to produce child pornography and one count of transferring obscene matter to Minor Victim 1. According to the affidavit, Pickett shared with Minor Victim 1 an iCloud link that contained 376 images and two videos of the sexual activity of Mallory and Thomas Bunch and Pickett.

The charges contained in this indictment are simply accusations, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. It was investigated by the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Southwest Missouri Cyber Crimes Task Force, and the Webster County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.