A Missouri woman was arrested after she allegedly tried to trade her foster daughter for a monkey after witnesses claimed she did not get “along” with the young girl.
Brenda Deutsch was previously charged with felony counts of neglect, child abuse and child endangerment in April 2025 after authorities became aware of the attempted trade and abuse that took place in her home.
Deutsch, 70, was later indicted on two counts of abuse or neglect of a child, as well as one count of endangering the welfare of a child.
More than one year after her arrest, Deutsch pleaded guilty to one count of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree on Monday, June 15, as part of a plea deal. Prosecutors agreed to drop the other two charges as part of the deal.
The investigation into the allegations against Deutsch began in November 2024 when the Missouri Department of Social Services received an anonymous tip that she was abusing the victim, according to KMOV.
The victim was later located months later in Texas, and she was interviewed by child welfare agents. At the time, she said that her abuse began three years earlier and spanned from September 2022 through January 2025. The case later took a strange turn when Deutsch traded the girl for a monkey, according to a probable cause statement obtained by KTVI.
Law enforcement learned that the child was allegedly hit in the face and suffered many injuries while in Deutsch’s care.
The girl told investigators that she had been hit with a paddle and smacked, and she claimed that she also saw other children being abused in the household.
In February 2025, the case took a shocking turn when Winfield School District reported the child had excessive absences. The school launched an investigation with its own team, and authorities later learned that the child was given to someone in Texas in exchange for a monkey.
At the same time, a witness told investigators that Deutsch and the child were “not getting along.”
Lincoln County authorities later contacted Texas law enforcement, who put them in contact with the child and confirmed she was fine.
“The child had been left alone in Texas for extended periods of time,” Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood explained, per Law & Crime. “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.”
Both Deutsch and her friend owned exotic animals, and the friend – who served as a witness in the case – was allegedly asked to take the girl in exchange for the monkey.
The defendant’s friend took the child to Texas, though left the state to tend to their animals in New Mexico. Amid the friend’s absence, the girl was sent to stay at another residence.
“She was at a secondary home which was the adult children of witness one,” Wood said. “Both of those people are disabled and not able to take care of the child. From what we can tell the child was taking care of them.”
The second set of adults eventually turned the girl over to Child Protective Services in Texas.
Deutsch is awaiting her sentencing hearing, but she is facing up to seven years in prison.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
