Missouri foster parent accused of trading child for exotic animal pleads guilty

WINFIELD, Mo. (First Alert 4) - A Missouri foster parent accused of trading a child for an exotic animal has pleaded guilty.

Brenda Deutsch, 70, of Winfield, was charged in April 2025 on felony counts stemming from initial allegations of a missing child later found in Texas. The grand jury later indicted her on two counts of abuse or neglect of a child and one count of endangering the welfare of a child.

On Monday, she pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. The other two charges were dropped.

According to court documents, in November 2024, the Missouri Department of Social Services received an anonymous report that Deutsch was abusing a victim.

Court documents read that the victim was interviewed by the state in December 2024 and told them about her abuse, which had started about three years prior.

According to court documents, the victim said she was hit with a paddle, smacked, and faced other abuse. The victim also admitted she had seen other family members being abused.

In February 2025, the school district reported that the victim was missing from school and in Texas. One witness told investigators it was because Deutsch and the victim weren’t getting along. A different witness told investigators it was so that Deutsch could exchange the victim for an exotic animal.

Deutsch was a foster parent for decades for over 200 children and during this time more than 200 calls were made to a child abuse hotline to report Deutsch.