According to Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department, the three adults charged regularly babysat for the victims ages 7 months, 3 years and 5-years old.
Court documents say that the trio sexually abused the children between April and May in a home near O’Fallon.
Billy Joe Bunch, 25, has been charged with three counts of statutory sodomy and one felony charge of sexual misconduct involving the five-year-old girl. He was accused of forcing the five-year-old to perform sex acts on him during the time she was in his care.
According to authorities, Bunch was friends with the other two babysitters charged in the case, Rebecca Russell, 30, and her boyfriend, John Scott Thomas, 27. They have both been charged with raping all three of the minor girls.
The youngest victim, a 7-month-old girl, is Russell’s daughter. The other two girls were Russell’s goddaughters.
Authorities say that the abuse occurred at the Tee Kay Mobile Home Manor, where Russell and Thomas frequently babysat for other families in the park.
All three babysitters are being held at the St. Charles County Department of Corrections on a $200,000 bond each.
According to police the investigation is ongoing and the case has been referred to the prosecutor’s office for warrants and additional charges.
by Ella Desrosiers