Two Strafford women were indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday, June 26, for sexually abusing two children to produce nonconsensual pornography.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, Mallory Nicole Bunch, 40, and Jessica Nicole Pickett, 34, were charged in a five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield. This week's indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Pickett on June 11, 2024.
The indictment alleges Mallory Bunch and Pickett participated in a conspiracy with Thomas Bunch (now deceased) to sexually abuse two kids to produce child pornography from Sept. 2, 2016, to May 23, 2024.
Thomas Bunch was formerly Mallory Bunch’s husband, and they were involved in a polyamorous relationship, the release said.
According to indicting documents, Mallory Bunch allegedly used her cellphone 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 sex acts to Thomas Bunch through a text messaging application.
In addition to the conspiracy to abuse children, the 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 in court documents 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 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.
