Two Strafford women charged with sexual abuse of children

Two Strafford women were indicted by a federal grand jury on Wednesday, June 26, on charges of sexually abusing two children to produce pornography without their consent.

According to a press 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 that was returned by a federal grand jury in Springfield. This week’s indictment supersedes a federal criminal complaint filed against Pickett on June 11, 2024.

The indictment alleges that Mallory Bunch and Pickett, along with the now deceased Thomas Bunch, participated in a conspiracy to sexually abuse two children and produce child pornography from September 2, 2016, to May 23, 2024.

Thomas Bunch was formerly Mallory Bunch’s husband and the two had a polyamorous relationship, the press release said.

According to charging documents, Mallory Bunch used her cell phone to record the sexual abuse of a child, identified as “Minor Victim 1,” at Thomas Bunch’s request. She then sent videos of the sexual acts to Thomas Bunch via a text messaging application.

In addition to conspiracy to commit child molestation, the indictment accuses Mallory Bunch of exploiting minor Victim 1 to produce child pornography and of distributing child pornography.

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

The charges contained in this indictment are accusations and not proof of guilt. Evidence supporting the charges must be presented to a jury in federal court whose role it is to determine guilt or innocence.

Jackie Rehwald

Jackie Rehwald is a reporter for the Springfield Daily Citizen. She covers public safety, courts, homelessness, domestic violence and other social issues. Her office number is 417-837-3659. More from Jackie Rehwald