A Missouri foster mother accused of trading a teenage girl for a monkey has avoided prison time. Brenda Deutsch, 70, was sentenced to seven years for child endangerment, but a Lincoln County judge suspended the sentence and placed her on three years of probation.
Judge Thomas Frawley revoked Deutsch's foster care license and apologized to the alleged victims, stating the foster care system had failed them. Deutsch's biological daughter, Brina Johnson, who testified about alleged abuse, expressed disappointment with the outcome.
"I’m kinda lost for words because this is not the end we wished for," Johnson told FOX2. She stated that a teenager in the courtroom was the foster child at the center of the allegations.
Investigators began looking into Deutsch in April after she sought permission to take the girl, who is now 17, to visit a friend in Texas. An anonymous caller later alerted the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division, alleging Deutsch was physically and mentally abusing the child.
Court documents revealed an allegation that the girl had been traded for an exotic animal and was living in Texas. The teenager told investigators that Deutsch informed her Texas friend that the friend could keep the child, but Deutsch would continue to receive the foster care payments.
A witness reported that the girl was left in an unsanitary Texas home filled with exotic animals. The teenager was eventually taken into the custody of Texas child protective services. She also described alleged abuse by Deutsch, including being struck with objects like a paddle and shoes. During one alleged beating, the documents state she tried to "soften the strikes to her body" by lying on the floor.
According to court documents, Deutsch also allegedly took the girl's clothes and threatened to kill her if she did not remain silent.
Deutsch has reportedly fostered more than 200 children over the years. Johnson said the judge's acknowledgment of the system's failures provided some validation, stating, "It was good to know somebody knows from the other side of the street, that this shouldn’t have happened. None of it should. And the system did fail us, failed them all."