A Missouri woman who served as a foster parent for decades allegedly subjected a child to years of abuse before attempting to exchange the young girl for a monkey, authorities said.
Decades of fostering and hundreds of complaints
Brenda Deutsch, 70, had been a foster carer for more than 200 children over many years. During that time, over 200 calls were reportedly made to an abuse reporting hotline raising concerns about her conduct. Despite this, authorities did not launch a formal investigation until November 2024, when the Missouri Department of Social Services received an anonymous tip-off alleging she was mistreating one of her foster children.
The subsequent inquiry uncovered years of horrific abuse. Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood stated, "It wasn't isolated. It was a culture of abuse and neglect."
Details of the abuse
The young girl was interviewed by child welfare officials in December 2024 and disclosed that the abuse had begun three years prior. The abuse, spanning from September 2022 through January 2025, included facial injuries from being struck, leaving her bleeding. She told investigators she had been hit with a paddle and repeatedly smacked. The girl also witnessed other children in the household being mistreated.
Wood explained, "Emotional abuse, physical abuse and also a level of neglect. We had some information children were hoarding food, which is always something you look for. Emotional abuse such as throwing their clothes away. Taking them to have them evaluated for psychological issues, whether they have it or not, as a level of control. Sending children to residential treatment facilities as a form of punishment."
Wood added, "We don't have all the facts in front of us but it feels like to know there were that many number of hotlines and that this particular home was notorious in the community for neglect and abuse was disturbing to hear."
The bizarre attempt to trade the child for a monkey
The accusations took an even more bizarre twist in February 2025 when the Winfield School District flagged that the girl had been excessively absent. While the school investigated, authorities uncovered that she had been given to someone in Texas in return for a monkey.
Lincoln County authorities contacted Texas law enforcement to track down the child. They located the girl, who insisted she was fine. Wood revealed, "The child had been left alone in Texas for extended periods of time. One of those was a 10 day period where that particular person in Texas had left and gone to the state of New Mexico and left the child."
Deutsch and an associate kept exotic animals. She requested the associate take the girl in exchange for the monkey. The associate said she was keeping the child away from Deutsch because they "were not getting along." The associate then left Texas to attend to animals in New Mexico, leaving the girl with disabled adult children who could not care for her. "From what we can tell the child was taking care of them," Wood said. The girl was eventually handed over to Child Protective Services in Texas.
Charges and plea deal
Deutsch was initially charged with felony counts of neglect, child abuse and child endangerment in April 2025. She was indicted on two counts of abuse or neglect of a child and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. However, the remaining two charges were dismissed on Monday after she accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to one count of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree. Deutsch now faces up to seven years in prison. A case review has been scheduled for 21 July.
