WOMAN ACCUSED OF TRADING A FOSTER CHILD FOR A MONK...

WOMAN ACCUSED OF TRADING A FOSTER CHILD FOR A MONKEY ENTERS A PLEA… BUT WHAT HAPPENED NEXT LEFT EVERYONE STUNNED…

Brenda Deutsch, 70, of Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of felony child endangerment.

Brenda Deutsch.Credit : Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office

A Missouri woman accused of trading one of her foster children for a monkey has pleaded guilty to one of the three charges filed against her.

On Monday, June 15,  Brenda Deutsch, 70, of Winfield, pleaded guilty to one count of felony child endangerment, online court records show.

Deutsch, who had fostered about 200 children in the last 20 years, agreed to plead guilty in exchange for prosecutors dropping two counts of child abuse, according to the records.

In April 2025, Deutsch was arrested and charged with three felony counts of neglect, child abuse and child endangering and held on a $250,000 cash bond, Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood said in a statement on April 6, 2025.

The charges stemmed from initial allegations of a missing child who was later located in Texas, Wood said.

Authorities began investigating in November 2024 when the Missouri Department of Social Services received an anonymous report that Deutsch was allegedly mentally and physically abusing a minor in her care, according to a probable cause statement obtained by PEOPLE.

The victim told authorities that when she was in eighth grade, Deutsch had beaten her with wood trim, shoes and a paddle, and made her bleed once when she hit her in the nose, the probable cause statement alleges, adding that the girl said Deutsch didn’t feed her much and often gave away her clothes to Goodwill.

The girl further described the alleged abuse she she underwent while living with Deutsch, per the statement, including one incident in which she was laying on the floor in the living room and Deutsch hit her and called her “a b—-.”

Another time, she said she ran from Deutsch during an argument and was held down by another family member while Deutsch pulled her pants down and hit her on her bare skin “so it would hurt more,” the statement alleges.

On Feb. 6, 2025, a resource officer at the victim’s school, who is also a deputy at the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, was notified that she had missed school and learned that she was in Texas. While investigating, the deputy “was told of a rumor that the girl had been traded for an exotic animal in Texas,” according to the statement.

When contacted by authorities for a welfare check, the victim said she “was ok” and was enrolled in school in Texas. The woman who had taken the victim in allegedly told police she was helping out Deutsch, who cared for exotic animals like she did, because she and the victim were not getting along at the time.

“It was described to me early on that the defendant … became frustrated with this individual child and asked her friend in Texas if she would just take the child and keep her,” Wood told NBC News. “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?'”

The Texas woman allegedly said she did not want to keep taking care of the child, but claimed Deutsch would not pay for a plane ticket for the victim to return home, according to the probable cause statement.

The girl later told Texas authorities that the woman often left her alone at the home for days to take care of her exotic animals, per the statement, which notes she at one point left her with another person.

When the woman did not return for seven days, the person caring for the girl notified authorities. As a result, the woman agreed to bring the girl to the Eastland Sheriff’s Office the next day so Child Protective Services could take custody of her, according to the statement.

This was in April 2025, per NBC News.

Deutsch faces a sentence of up to seven years in prison or up to one year in jail and a fine up to $10,000, according to FOX 2.

Her attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

SOURCE: https://people.com/woman-accused-of-trading-foster-child-for-monkey-enters-plea-12000962