2 women are accused of abusing children to produce child pornography

KANSAS CITY – Two women were indicted by a federal grand jury in June on charges of sexually abusing two children to produce child pornography, according to the U.S. Attorney General.

Mallory Nicole Bunch, 40, and Jessica Nicole Pickett, 34, both of Strafford, Missouri, were charged in a five-count indictment that was dismissed by a federal grand jury in Springfield. The indictment supersedes a federal criminal complaint filed against Pickett on June 11, 2024.

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

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

Pickett is also accused of using a child (Minor Victim 2) to produce child pornography and of sharing obscene material with Minor Victim 1. According to the affidavit, Pickett shared an iCloud link with Minor Victim 1 that contained 376 images and two videos of Mallory, Thomas Bunch and Pickett engaging in sexual acts.

The charges contained in this indictment are merely accusations and do not prove guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a jury in federal court, whose role it 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, Missouri Sheriff’s Department, Homeland Security Investigations, the Southwest Missouri Cyber ​​Crimes Task Force, and the Webster County, Missouri Sheriff’s Department.