A 70-year-old Missouri foster mother accused of trading a teenage girl for a monkey has avoided prison time despite being sentenced to seven years behind bars.
Brenda Deutsch was sentenced for child £nd@ng£rm£nt, but a Lincoln County judge suspended the sentence and placed her on three years of probation, meaning she will remain free as long as she complies with the conditions.
Judge Thomas Frawley also revoked Deutsch’s foster care licence and criticised the state for allowing her to keep caring for children.
He apologised to the alleged victims in court, saying the foster care system had failed them.
Deutsch’s biological daughter, Brina Johnson, who testified about the alleged @büs£, said the outcome was not what she had hoped for.
“I’m kinda lost for words because this is not the end we wished for,” Johnson told FOX2.
Johnson alleged that Deutsch traded the teenager, who is now 17, to a friend in Texas in exchange for an exotic animal.
Court documents said the investigation began after Deutsch sought permission to take the girl to visit a friend in Texas. Five days later, an anonymous caller reportedly alerted Missouri authorities that Deutsch was allegedly physically and mentally @büs!ng the child.
Investigators later learned of an allegation that the girl had been exchanged for an exotic animal and was living in Texas.
According to court documents, the teenager told investigators Deutsch told her Texas friend that the woman could keep her, while Deutsch would “be keeping the check.”
A witness reportedly told police the girl was left in an unsanitary Texas home filled with exotic animals before she was eventually placed in the custody of child protective services.
The teenager also described alleged physical @büs£ by Deutsch, claiming she was stück with objects including a paddle and shoes.
Deutsch also allegedly threatened to k!ll the girl if she did not “shut up,” according to court documents.
Deutsch, who has reportedly fostered more than 200 children over the years, declined to comment after the sentencing.
Johnson said the judge’s acknowledgment that the system had failed them offered some validation despite her disappointment with the sentence.