Foster mother accused of attempting to trade teenager for monkey
Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A foster mum in the US has avoided jail time after being accused of attempting to trade a teenager for a monkey.
Brenda Deutsch, from Missouri, took her foster daughter, now 17, to visit her friend’s home in Texas in November 2024, according to court documents obtained by FOX2 St. Louis.
Five days later, an anonymous caller informed the Missouri Department of Social Services Children’s Division that the 70-year-old was allegedly physically and mentally abusing the child.
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Investigators were then told that the girl had been traded for the exotic animal.
The abuse, which the teenager said allegedly began three years prior, would include beatings with a paddle and shoes.
She said she would lay on the floor to try to ‘soften the strikes to her body’, according to court docs.
Deutsch, who has reportedly fostered over 200 children, also allegedly took away the girl’s clothes and once threatened to kill her ‘if she did not shut up’.
“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,” Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood previously 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?'”
While she was initially sentenced to seven years in prison, a judge decided to suspend the execution of the sentence, which means Deutsch will avoid jail time if she complies with the terms.
Outside court, the guardian provided a GoFundMe link, adding, “For anyone who would like to help Annabella Deutsch get a new start with her life and get a car to drive to school for her senior year.”
Her biological daughter, Brina Johnson, who testified about alleged abuse, said to the outlet: “I’m kinda lost for words because this is not the end we wished for.
“I have the whole conversation on my phone, which I turned over to the detectives.
“That’s what she did; she 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.”
“It was good to know somebody knows from the other side of the street, that this shouldn’t have happened,” she added.
“None of it should. And the system did fail us, failed them all.”
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence regarding the welfare of a child, contact the NSPCC on 0808 800 5000, 10am-8pm Monday to Friday. If you are a child seeking advice and support, call Childline for free on 0800 1111, 24/7.
Anish Vij