A foster mom is in hot water after being accused of trading one of her children for a pet monkey. Look I like monkeys as much as anyone, but I wouldn't be willing to trade my son for one.
But allegedly this foster mom treated her foster children more like Pokemon and figured she could trade one for a monkey. That's generally frowned upon by the law. So authorities arrested Brenda Deutsch for the crime. Over the years, Brenda saw more than 200 children pass through her home as a foster mom.
But she also loved exotic animals apparently more than she loved her children. Now, she's facing three felony counts of neglect, child abuse and child endangering. Lincoln County prosecutor Mike Wood says that authorities managed to locate the missing child. Authorities are investigating whether the foster mom really wanted to trade the child for a monkey.
"A witness who had come forward with some information regarding the systemic abuse that was going on in the home, had said that they had been asked to bring the child down to Texas and bring the monkey back in return," he said, according to KSDK. "Obviously we have to do more investigation to see if that's actually credible or if that's true."
Foster Mom Accused Of Abuse
What concerns Wood more is the allegations of abuse and neglect and how far these allegations may reach.
"Two things that really stood out was the number of children that had been fostered through that home and then the allegations that these types of abuse and emotional neglect had been going on for what seemed to be perhaps a decade," he said.
The child alleged that her foster mom abused her physically and mentally. She told authorities that she had been hit with a paddle and shoes as well as her hands. She also alleged that the foster mom would steal and give away her clothes as punishment.
Wood said, "I'd like to thank the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office and Detective Bureau for working with my office to expedite initial charges in the middle of what will end up being a lengthy investigation that must cover over a decade's worth of allegations of abuse."
