Missouri Woman Pleads Guilty After Allegedly Trading Her Foster Child for a Monkey
A Missouri woman has been accused of trading one of her foster children to a woman in Texas in exchange for a monkey. 70-year-old Brenda Deutsch pleaded guilty to one count of child endangerment according to court records.
Deutsch faced three charges: two counts of child abuse and a single count of child endangerment after she was arrested in April 2025 reports PEOPLE. On June 15 she pleaded guilty to the endangerment charge in exchange for the other two charges against her being dropped.
Over the course of 20 years Deutsch fostered about 200 children. She was initially arrested and held on $250,000 bond in relation to a missing child who was found later in Texas. A probable cause statement obtained by PEOPLE revealed that authorities initially began investigating Deutsch in November 2024 after an anonymous report was sent to the Missouri Department of Social Services claiming that Deutsch was being physically abusive to a child in her care.
The victim, who was in eighth grade, told authorities that the woman had beaten her with wood trim, shoes, and a paddle. Deutsch allegedly made the young girl bleed after hitting her on the nose. She also didn’t feed her much and apparently gave her clothes away to Goodwill the probable cause statement alleges.
The details of the abuse continue with Deutsch also allegedly calling the girl “a b—h” and, in one instance, pulling her pants down to hit her on her bare skin “so it would hurt more.”
Authorities are notified after the girl goes missing
On February 6, 2025, a resource officer at the victim’s school, who was also a deputy at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, was notified that the young girl had not shown up for class. Authorities later learned that the girl was in Texas. The deputy was informed of “a rumor that the girl had been traded for an exotic animal in Texas.”
Authorities were able to contact the victim for a welfare check where she confirmed that she “was ok” and had been enrolled at a school in Texas. The woman who had taken her explained to police that she had taken the victim to help Deutsch who also cared for exotic animals. She allegedly did so because Deutsch and the victim were not getting on at the time.
Deutsch apparently “became frustrated with this individual child and asked her friend in Texas if she would just take the child and keep her,” according to prosecuting attorney Mike Wood. “And at that point I think is when she says, ‘You know, why don’t you send a monkey and you can just keep the child?’” Wood adds.
The girl told authorities that she was often left alone in the apartment with the exotic animals. When the woman didn’t return for seven days the authorities were notified and the girl was taken into the custody of Child Protective Services. Meanwhile Brenda Deutsch is facing up to seven years in prison or up to one year behind bars with a $10,000 fine.
(featured image: Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office/Wikimedia Commons)
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