Posted on 04/14/2025 12:57:09 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
A Missouri woman is charged with child endangerment and abuse, accused of sending a foster child to live in "unsanitary" conditions at a Texas home in exchange for an exotic animal.
Brenda Deutsch, 70, was arrested April 6 in Lincoln County, Missouri, and charged with two counts of abuse or neglect of a child and one count of first-degree child endangerment. She is from the small town of Winfield, Missouri, about 50 miles northwest of St. Louis.
Deutsch is in custody at the Lincoln County Jail in lieu of $250,000 cash-only bond. Court records show she has applied for a public defender but has not yet been appointed one.
Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood told NBC News that the teen was a foster child of Deutsch, who has fostered over 200 children or more in 15 to 20 years. Wood did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The Missouri Department of Social Services Children's Division received an anonymous report Nov. 26 that a teen was physically and mentally abused by Deutsch, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Social workers went to the teen girl's school on Dec. 4 for an interview, where she described multiple instances of verbal and physical abuse against herself and other family members.
She said Deutsch struck her with with a paddle, shoes and wood trim, and in one instance the woman "smacked" her so hard in the face that her nose bled. Deutsch reportedly told the teen she would kill her "if she did not shut up," according to the affidavit.
In later interviews, the girl said she had to steal food in order to survive and did not have much to wear because Deutsch would punish her by donating her clothes, according to the affidavit. The girl said Deutsch also lied to medical professionals to get her admitted to an inpatient psychological facility.
The teen said she disclosed the abuse to other people, but that no one believed her. When she told a friend at her church about the abuse, Deutsch found out and said "she was going to regret telling," allegedly striking the girl with a piece of wood trim.
On Feb. 6, a school-security officer at the teen's district began investigating after she missed school, hearing a rumor that she was "traded for an exotic animal" in Texas. Deutsch had previously met with social services in November to discuss a possible visit to Texas, according to the affidavit.
The officer contacted the Eastland County Sheriff's Office in North Texas, which located the teen. Investigators determined she was was living there with a friend of Deutsch, who said they were helping out because Deutsch and the girl did not get along.
Witnesses told authorities that a monkey was taken to Deutsch's home in Missouri after she left the girl in Texas, Wood told NBC News. She had a "handful" of monkeys living there, according to the news source.
Deutsch allegedly said the friend could "keep" the child but that Deutsch "would be keeping the check," referring to the government stipend given to foster parents in Missouri.
Conditions at the Texas home were "unsanitary," and the girl was left alone for days at a time while the friend worked out of town and took care of exotic animals, according to court documents.
The friend said Deutsch refused to pay for a plane ticket for the child to return to Missouri. Deutsch told an investigator that she bought a ticket, but that the teen missed the flight because the friend could not take her to the airport. The friend dropped the teen off at another residence on Feb. 13 to go out of town, and after she didn't return for the girl, the owner of the residence took her to the Eastland County Sheriff's Office on Feb. 21 so she could be taken into the custody of Texas Child Protective Services.
In a statement posted on social media, Wood said that abuse allegations against Deutsch date back at least a decade.
"This matter is ongoing and we expect more charges to follow as information becomes available," Wood wrote. "Numerous victims and witnesses have already contacted my office and I would encourage anyone else with information to continue reaching out to my office, as well as investigators."
Some people just need killing.
(exotic monkey)
She must be bananas ππππ!!
πΆπΆπ΅ And carry moonbeams home in a jar π΅πΆπΆ
This is horr....wait, what kind of monkey?
So THAT explains it...
What is an ‘exotic monkey’?....................
Another day. Another CPS atrocity.
Answer: Will a monkey be OK? It IS exotic.
Fostered 200 children over the years??? She was raking in the dough from the state and little of it was used for the benefit of the children!!!
Deutsch is in custody at the Lincoln County Jail in lieu of $250,000 cash-only bond.....
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Well now. Isn’t this interesting? The same amount of bond set for that race based murder of a white Texas Teen by the black killer who has confessed to the crime
word to the wise; some foster kids are notorious liars. could be the mother’s innocent or it could be the kid is tainting her
Wow. I remember that.
Granted, it wasn’t as stark as Wilbur Mills with a stripper, both drunk as skunks, with her swimming in the Tidal Basin at 2 AM, but...still.
“Monkey Business”? What a loser.
"Is this your Minkey?"
Re pic of Gary...
And him a Reverend, LOL.
Must have been some of those Snow Monkeys that run wild in S Texas that Nolan Ryan talked out.
she a holy roller now though.
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