Missouri foster mother sentenced for exchanging teenager for exotic monkey

Brenda Deutsch, a 70-year-old foster mother in Missouri, has been sentenced following allegations that she exchanged a teenager in her care for an exotic monkey. While Deutsch was initially sentenced to seven years in prison for endangering a minor, Lincoln County Judge Thomas Frawley suspended the prison term, instead imposing three years of probation.

In addition to the probation, the judge revoked Deutsch’s foster care license and criticized the state of Missouri for allowing her to remain in the system. Judge Frawley apologized to the victims, stating that the foster care system had failed them.

The investigation began after authorities learned Deutsch had sent the 17-year-old ward to a residence in Texas under the guise of a visit. During testimony, Deutsch’s biological daughter, Brina Johnson, stated that the minors and the monkeys in the household were kept in unsanitary and precarious conditions.