A Missouri foster mother accused of trading a teenage girl for an exotic monkey has avoided serving prison time.
Brenda Deutsch, 70, received a seven-year prison sentence for child endangerment, but a Lincoln County judge suspended the execution of the sentence.
The court placed Deutsch on three years of probation, allowing her to remain free if she complies with the specified terms.
Judge Thomas Frawley revoked Deutsch’s foster care license directly from the bench and expressed sharp criticism of the state’s oversight.
Frawley also offered an apology to the victims in the courtroom, stating that the foster care system had failed them.
Authorities arrested Deutsch in April following an investigation into allegations that she sent a 17-year-old foster child to Texas.
The teenager reported that Deutsch planned to let a contact in Texas keep the youth while Deutsch kept the state foster checks.
Investigators learned the teenager was sent to live in an unsanitary home filled with exotic animals after allegedly being traded.
According to court records, the victim told police she was beaten with shoes and a paddle, and Deutsch threatened to kill her.
Deutsch’s daughter testified that her mother possessed at least seven monkeys but treated them as poorly as she did the children.
Expressing deep disappointment outside the courtroom, Deutsch’s biological daughter Brina Johnson criticized the lenient ruling.
“I’m kinda lost for words because this is not the end we wished for,” Johnson said.
Acknowledging the judicial apology, Johnson emphasized how the child welfare system had ultimately collapsed.
“And the system did fail us, failed them all,” Johnson added.