A Missouri mother has been arrested on charges of exchanging her foster child for an exotic monkey.
Missouri prosecutors said Sunday that Brenda Ruth Deutsch, 70, of Lincoln County, was arrested on three felony counts of neglect, child abuse, and child endangering related to the first reports of a missing child who was later found in Texas.
Deutsch, who has reportedly fostered over 200 children over the course of 15 to 20 years, is also under investigation in relation to claims that she exchanged the child for a monkey, Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood stated.
“At least two witnesses have come forward with information regarding the transportation of the monkey back to Missouri after the child was delivered,” Wood stated. “But we will have to further investigate whether that was actually a trade for the child or if it was something that does not rise to the level of any type of trafficking.”
Court records did not identify Deutsch’s lawyer.
Although he declined to speak further, Lincoln County Sheriff Rick Harrell stated that his office was aware of the accusations regarding the transaction. He and Wood verified that a few monkeys were discovered in Deutsch’s residence by the authorities.
According to Wood, the state’s child protective services agency, the Children’s Division of the Missouri Department of Social Services, received at least 200 hotline calls regarding activity at Deutsch’s residence prior to his arrest.
According to a complaint filed Monday, Deutsch hit the youngster in the face between September 2022 and January, causing bleeding. Although the child’s age is unknown, court documents show that she is a teenager under the age of 17.
According to a probable cause statement the sheriff’s office filed on Monday, Deutsch is accused of abusing the youngster by using a paddle, wooden trim, shoes, and an open hand.
According to the statement, Deutsch also punished the teenager by giving away their clothing.
Deutsch sent the adolescent “to live at a house in Texas with unsanitary living conditions and without adequate supervision” between January 1 and April 1, according to court documents.
Wood went on to say that Deutsch and the Texas resident, who he would not identify, were acquainted because they both had a passion for exotic animal collecting.
According to the records, the teenager was occasionally left alone at the Texas residence to care for the exotic animals that lived there.
According to Wood, there is no proof that the girl was mistreated in Texas.
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“It was described to me early on was that the defendant here, Brendan Deutsch, became frustrated with this individual child and asked her friend in Texas if she would just take the child and keep her,” Wood stated. “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 resident has not been detained or charged, according to Wood, but investigators are still looking into him. He went on to say that she had misled to Texas authorities about the child’s whereabouts when they originally asked her about it.
In April, the child was taken from the Texas household by child protective authorities.
According to court filings, the Eastland County, Texas, Sheriff’s Office assisted Missouri authorities; however, they declined to comment on the matter.
Others who say Deutsch fostered them have come forward to accuse her of similar abuse since prosecutors revealed the allegations, according to Wood.
“This has to be the potential to be an egregious human trafficking case,” he stated. “Or, at bare minimum, it certainly is a very disheartening and disturbing abuse and neglect case.”
He went on to say that he anticipates further charges to be revealed.
Child protective services took custody of a teenage boy that Deutsch was fostering at the time of her arrest, according to Wood.
A $250,000 bond has been set for Deutsch.
Source: NBC News
