A Missouri foster mother has been accused of exchanging a teenager in her care for a monkey, according to authorities.
Brenda Deutsch, 70, pleaded guilty on June 15 to one count of endangering the welfare of a child after the girl was left in Texas.
Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood told Oxygen that, as part of the plea agreement, two additional counts of child abuse and neglect were dismissed.
“I’m very pleased,” Wood said, “that we were able to get some justice.”
Brenda Deutsch Allegedly Sent Child to Texas in Exchange for a Monkey
The investigation began on Feb. 6, 2025, when Lincoln County school resource officer Deputy Davenport discovered the teen had been absent from school, according to a probable cause statement obtained by Oxygen.
“While investigating the information provided by the school,” the statement said, “Deputy Davenport was told of a rumor the Victim was traded for an exotic animal to Witness One in the state of Texas.”
That witness, described in court records as a friend of Deutsch’s and another exotic pet owner, told investigators she had agreed to help care for the teen because Deutsch and the girl “were not getting along.”
Wood told Oxygen that witnesses reported the child had allegedly been traded for a monkey, but investigators did not uncover enough evidence to support a trafficking charge.
As he added,“The monkey did get brought back to Missouri after the child was taken down there.”
The witness caring for the girl in Texas allegedly told law enforcement officers, according to the probable cause statement, that she didn’t wish to keep the child, but Deutsch would not pay for a plane ticket for the girl to return to Missouri.
Allegations of Abuse Against Foster Mom Brenda Deutsch
While in middle school and under Deutsch’s care, the victim told investigators that Deutsch allegedly “hit her with a lot of different things,” including a paddle, wood trim and shoes, according to the court records. In one incident described in the documents, Deutsch allegedly forced the child to stand in the corner. When she sat down because her legs hurt, Deutsch told her to stand back up, then “smacked” the victim in the nose, causing it to bleed, authorities said.
In another incident, the teen told authorities Deutsch instructed another family member in the home to hold her down, putting her face first on the floor, as they pulled her pants down and spanked her with a paddle, according to the court records.
“The Victim advised she was screaming at the Suspect to stop,” authorities wrote in the probable cause statement. “The Victim stated the hitting stopped when she stopped moving and was just quiet. The Victim said she just stayed still so the hitting would stop.”
The teen also described another time when she was hit on the arms with the paddle, causing bruising. When she grabbed the paddle from Deutsch and threw it across the room, Deutsch allegedly grabbed a “monkey bottle” at threw it at her before hitting her with the paddle again, authorities said.
According to allegations made by the victim, Deutsch also threatened to kill her if she “did not shut up,” called her “annoying and rude,” and gave away the teen’s clothing as punishment, per the court records.
After being sent to Texas, the teen told investigators that she was often tasked with caring for the witness’ exotic animals “for a few days at a time” while the woman was out of town, per the court records.
Wood told Oxygen that Deutsch had been a foster mom for years.
“What we later learned is that these allegations of abuse and neglect stem back 20 years,” he said. “It was alleged that there were more than 200 hotline calls regarding abuse and neglect that had never been either turned over to law enforcement or had never been investigated.”
He added that the sentiment from many of her foster care children was that she cared more for her monkeys.
“After we had talked to a lot of these kids,” Wood said, “she had these monkeys that were living in five-star resort style lodgings and the kids were all crammed into just like one closet room.”
According to Wood, there had been “so much wrongdoing,” over the years, that prosecutors were pleased they finally had enough evidence to charge Deutsch.
“There had just never been any level of accountability,” he said. “And so we finally, finally, finally got to the point where we were able to achieve some level of justice and so that felt really good for us.”
Oxygen reached out to Deutsch’s attorney, but did not receive an immediate response.
