Missouri, USA: Brenda Deutsch allegedly traded a child for a monkey, learns fate in court

A foster mum accused of trading a child in her care for a monkey has avoided jail time.

Brenda Deutsch was charged over allegations that a missing child from Missouri was located at an unattended Texan home with unsanitary conditions and inadequate supervision in April 2025.

Deutsch pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child in the first-degree on June 15 and she was sentenced on September 3 in Missouri.

Lincoln County judge Thomas Frawley handed down a seven year suspended sentence, meaning she will stay out of prison if she passes three years of state-supervised probation.

Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood told NBC News in April 2025, that “at least two witnesses” had “come forward with information regarding the transportation of the monkey back to Missouri after the child was delivered” to Texas.

He said that Deutsch knew the Texan resident through their shared interest in collecting exotic animals.

The outlet said that at least 200 calls to the state’s social services department had been made about Deutsch before her arrest.

“It was described to me early on was that the defendant here, Brenda Deutsch, became frustrated with this individual child and asked her friend in Texas if she would just take the child and keep her,” Mr Wood said.

“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 victim told authorities she had been left at home alone for days to take care of the exotic animals in Texas.

However, Judge Frawley said the conviction only related to the inappropriate placement of the child at the Texan home, People reported.

“She did not abuse anyone, engage in patterns of abusive behaviours, trade a child for a monkey, or anything else that has been said,” he said.

Deutsch’s biological daughter Brina Johnson told Fox2 she was disappointed by the ruling.

“I’m kinda lost for words because this is not the end we wished for,” she said.

Ms Johnson testified about abuse in the case and said the child who was allegedly traded for a monkey by Deutsch was present in the courtroom.

“I have the whole conversation on my phone, which I turned over to the detectives,” she said.

She added that her mum had “at least seven monkeys”.

“That’s just her thing. But she wasn’t any nicer to those monkeys than she was to a child,” Ms Johnson said.

Over a period of about 20 years, Deutsch fostered about 200 children.

Judge Frawley called her “reprehensible” and revoked her foster parenting license.

He apologised to the victims in the court room and said they had been let down by the system, slamming the state for not revoking the licence sooner.

“It was good to know somebody knows from the other side of the street, that this shouldn’t have happened,” Ms Johnson said.

“None of it should. And the system did fail us, failed them all.”

Two counts of abuse or neglect of a child were previously dismissed under her plea deal, People reported.