A foster mother from Missouri who traded a teenager for a monkey has avoided a spell in prison.
Brenda Deutsch, 70, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to child endangerment – but the jail term handed down was suspended.
The American pensioner is believed to have been a prolific foster parent, reportedly looking after 200 children in her lifetime.
Concern for the teenager at the centre of the case, now 17, was first raised after she began missing lengthy periods of school.
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Following a police probe, the girl was tracked down in Texas, where she had been found living with one of Deutsch’s friends.
The friend said the teenager had been staying with her as she had not been “getting along” with the 70-year-old.
In court, Deutsch admitted that she had no idea about the Texas home the teenager was sent to.
One witness told police officers that conditions inside were filthy, with the property being used to house a number of exotic pets.
Detectives were later informed that the foster child had been given away in exchange for a monkey.
One prosecutor told NBC: “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.
“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?’”
Investigators were told that the friend had attempted to send the girl back into Deutsch’s care.
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After the 70-year-old initially refused to pay for the girl’s plane ticket home, she eventually returned to her Missouri and the relationship deteriorated.
Deutsch allegedly beat the girl with wood, shoes and a paddle, and even told the girl she would be killed “if she did not shut up”.
Lincoln County Judge Thomas Frawley said the foster system had failed her victims.
He branded the 70-year-old “reprehensible” and revoked her foster license, slamming the state of Missouri for not doing so sooner.
Brina Johnson, Deutsch’s biological daughter, testified against her mother in court.
She said: “This shouldn’t have happened. None of it should. And the system did fail us, failed them all.”
Ms Johnson added: “This is not the end we wished for. 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.”
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