LINCOLN COUNTY, Mo. – A Missouri foster mother accused of trading a child for an exotic monkey is out on bond, several months after her arrest.
According to Missouri court records, Brenda Deutsch, 70, posted a $5,000 bond on July 14, which represents 10% of the $50,000 bond originally ordered.
Deutsch was released from jail under several bond conditions, including surrendering her passport, remaining in Missouri, wearing a GPS monitoring device, having no contact with victims and having no unsupervised contact with anyone under 18, according to court documents.
The Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office previously charged Deutsch with endangering the welfare of a child and two counts of abuse or neglect in connection with the case.
A probable cause statement from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office indicates an anonymous call was made to social services in November alleging abuse. Authorities say the Winfield School District reported excessive absences involving the child in February.
Sometime that month, a school resource officer was notified about the child missing school. As the school began investigating, they learned the child was in Texas. The SRO was told a rumor that the child was exchanged to an individual in Texas for a monkey.
The probable cause statement also details several alleged instances of abuse. Deutsch is accused of hitting the child with a paddle, wooden trim from walls, and shoes. Deutsch also accused of taking clothes from the child and not providing enough food.
According to previous FOX 2 reports, Deutsch had fostered hundreds of children and allegedly had more than 200 hotline calls linked to her address before her arrest.
Deutsch has a case review hearing scheduled for Sept. 26, according to Missouri court records.
NOTE: Video attached to this story is from FOX 2’s April 2025 coverage of Deutsch’s arrest.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
