Kennewick businessman collapses in court after pleading guilty to dealing child porn

A child pornographer who has been out of custody on bail for more than two years collapsed in court this week when told he’d have to sit in the county jail while awaiting sentencing.

Daniel J. Bunch, 42, asked to remain free after pleading guilty Wednesday in Benton County Superior Court to five felony sex crimes.

His attorney, Norma Rodriguez, noted that Bunch was not a risk for running because he had planned to take responsibility throughout the duration of the case, but first needed a letter from federal prosecutors declining to charge him.

She also asked the judge to allow Bunch to spend the coming holidays with his older parents before he goes to prison for at least seven years.

But Deputy Prosecutor Laurel Holland objected to the request, pointing to a Washington state law that says people found guilty of certain sex crimes should be detained until sentencing.

Holland also noted that the $200,000 bail bond posted on Bunch’s case in August 2019 was exonerated with his plea, so there is nothing to insure his return to court.

So when Judge Dave Petersen told Bunch he was going to rule in favor of the prosecutor’s recommendation, Bunch who was standing behind the podium fell to the floor.

Kennewick paramedics were called to the Justice Center and, along with corrections officers, moved Bunch to another courtroom to be examined. Once medically cleared, Bunch went to jail.

Bunch had been living with his parents and wearing a GPS ankle bracelet since he last was released from the Benton County jail one month after his early morning arrest at his Kennewick home.

Child porn files

Bunch was an employee at the family business — Bunch Finnigan Appliances near downtown Kennewick — when detectives searched the East Columbia Drive store late July 10, 2019, and found a massive stash of child pornography on hard drives.

A laptop was found behind a box on top of a safe. A 3 terabyte (TB) external hard drive connected to the concealed laptop was 99% full of child porn images and videos and a 10TB external hard drive was 2% full, according to court documents.

The storage capacity of a 3TB drive includes about 600,000 digital photos, 1,500 hours of videos or 750,000 4-minute songs.

Detectives said Bunch was online at the time of the search and accessing the store’s computer network remotely. They went to his house and arrested him about 3:30 a.m. July 11.

Bunch admitted having remote access to three computers at the store and said he was the only person with that capability, but initially told investigators he had not been online that night.

He was fired from the business later that month.

The case originated with the FBI in February 2017, and a detective with the Southeast Regional Internet Crimes Against Children task force was brought in months later to help pinpoint where the downloads were happening and who was responsible.

Investigators described Bunch as one of the largest distributors of child pornography in Eastern Washington.

Guilty plea

This week, Bunch pleaded to three counts of first-degree dealing in depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct, and two counts of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Federal prosecutors declined to take up the case so long as Bunch admitted guilt to all five counts by Wednesday’s date. If not, he could have been indicted in federal court.

Bunch’s plea statement said he “duplicate(d) visual matter for my personal use that depicted minors engaged in actual or simulated sexual intercourse” from February 2017 to July 2019.

He also acknowledged having physical possession of video files with child pornography when police searched the family business and arrested him.

Sentencing currently is set for Dec. 29.

Bunch faces between seven years and three months and nine years and eight months in prison. He will have to register as a sex offender and get treatment with a certified provider.

Holland said she will ask for the maximum, but the defense is open to request a term within the standard range.

Brother’s charges

Meanwhile, Bunch’s younger brother is awaiting trial Jan. 24 for his own child pornography charges.

It was during the investigation in Daniel Bunch’s case that detectives allegedly discovered downloaded files with explicit videos on David I. Bunch’s laptop and hard drive.

David Bunch had a small quantity of child porn on his electronics compared to his brother’s large stash, court documents said.

He told detectives he stashed his laptop at the office because the father of three knew it contained pornography, both adult and child, documents said.

The brothers reportedly did not know about each other’s interest in child exploitation material.

David Bunch is charged with two counts of first-degree possession of depictions of a minor engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

David Bunch has been out of custody on his personal recognizance since his case was filed in June 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

This story was originally published November 19, 2021 at 5:00 AM.