Foster mom accused of swapping child for MONKEY faces vile new claims from daughter: Inside 'house of horrors' where skunks, parrots and coatis roamed among 200 children

When Brina Johnson's mother was arrested for allegedly abandoning an adopted child at someone's home and taking a monkey in her place, she felt some solace that her mom would finally face justice.

Johnson is the firstborn biological child of Brenda Deutsch, a 71-year-old Missouri exotic animal collector who portrayed herself as a doting foster mom who had taken in more than 200 children over 20 years, and adopted some of them.

But behind closed doors, Deutsch allegedly subjected some of the children to vile abuse. Lincoln County Prosecutor Mike Wood told the Daily Mail that Deutsch was the subject of at least 200 hotline calls to the Missouri Department of Social Services. Deutsch's lawyer has refuted any wrongdoing.

Only one of those calls, placed anonymously in November 2024, has so far led to charges against the mother after the Winfield School District reported that one of Deutsch's adopted children had excessive absences. 

Investigators traced the 14-year-old girl to the home of an exotic animal trader in Texas. They determined that Deutsch had sent the young teenager to the house and took a monkey in her place, according to court documents viewed by the Daily Mail. 

The teen was transferred into the custody of Texas Child Protective Services. She told authorities that Deutsch had physically and verbally abused her, including by threatening to kill her and smacking her bare bottom with a paddle so hard that she bled, while another family member held her down, court documents stated. 

On Monday, Deutsch pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. She had initially also been charged with two counts of abuse or neglect of a child, but those charges were dropped as part of her plea. 

Now, the foster mother is facing up to seven years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000. Her foster license has also been revoked, Wood told the Daily Mail. 

But Deutsch's attorney, Joseph Flees, fired back over what he called a lot of 'monkey business' in a lengthy statement to the Daily Mail. 

'Brenda pled guilty to sending her foster child to a friend's home in another state without first having travelled there and inspecting the home. That is all she did. She should have absolutely vetted that residence, but she was unaware it was in such poor condition. Had she known its condition she would not have sent the child to stay there. The stay itself was approved by the foster team and was not concealed in any way. 

'Though the investigators chose to raise Brina's [Johnson's] claim about this monkey in their probable cause statement, that claim has no basis in fact. Not a single witness other than Brina [Johnson] has said that. Even the child herself said that was false,' Flees said.   

The statement continued: 'After this investigation began, many former foster children were spoken to by investigators. There were a few other foster children out of the hundred plus Brenda has fostered who made claims against her about how they were treated. 

'There were an equal number of children fostered by Ms Deutsch who have come forward to say their experience with her was positive and she was caring and supportive. 

'There is no way dozens of children could have been abused and no one in the childcare system would have either known or found all those claims to be unsubstantiated. Each foster child interacts with social workers, counselors, school officials, medical personnel, and family court personnel. Had Brenda been the person some are claiming she is, she would have been locked up long ago. 

'In this case, some of the witnesses have called into question the credibility of those making claims against Brenda. I suspect one of the reasons the most serious charges of child abuse were dismissed was because of concerns about witness credibility. Had the evidence of abuse been strong, certainly those charges would not have been dismissed.'

But Johnson, 52, vehemently believes her mother should be locked up for life. 'She isn't somebody that I would let out of a jail cell for any reason at all. She doesn't deserve it,' Deutsch's firstborn told the Daily Mail.

Johnson alleged that she and other biological, adopted and fostered children in Deutsch's household suffered physical and mental abuse at the hands of their mother.

'Her biggest line was, "I'm all that you have,"' Johnson told the Daily Mail. 'You were made to feel like you were nobody.'

She said: 'The physical abuse was pretty traumatic. It caused injuries that led to bleeding. Some led to an emergency room visit.' 

Johnson's account is consistent with one of the now-dropped abuse charges in Deutsch's arrest warrant, which stated that between 2022 and 2025, the foster mom 'struck' a child under 18 'in the face,' and that the injury caused bleeding.

In court, the child who was left in Texas also 'testified that Brenda punched her in the face, which is consistent with other allegations of abuse in the home,' Wood told the Daily Mail.

And according to Deutsch's daughter, her mother's alleged abuse stretches back decades, since Johnson was in middle school in the 1980s.

But Deutsch's attorney, Flees, added in his statement: 'The children Ms Deutsch fostered were high-risk children who had mental health issues and difficulty regulating their emotions. There have been issues where her home was damaged and she herself has been a victim of assault. When these situations arise, there is going to be friction between foster parent and foster child. 

'Often these issues are reported as they should be. But this does not mean physical abuse occurred. Any time a concern was raised by any child it was addressed, investigated, and Brenda continued to be an approved foster parent. Many members of the community have come forward to show support for Brenda because they saw how much she cared and tried for all the children she helped. It is a vocal minority who have made these abuse claims.'

However, hundreds of calls to the Missouri Department of Social Services regarding Deutsch have been placed over the past few decades, according to Wood, who told the Daily Mail that he could not provide the exact number because some of the records were so old that they were kept on paper.

Johnson herself placed some of those calls, and a few reports were investigated, she said, but 'nothing was ever done.'

'I don't know why,' Johnson told the Daily Mail. 'Those were reported for years, and nothing, nothing ever was done.'

The Daily Mail reached out to the Missouri Department of Social Services (DSS) to ask why it took so long for Deutsch to be charged and arrested, and how she was able to continue fostering children for decades despite the myriad complaints. 

In a statement, the department replied: 'Under Missouri Law, the Department of Social Services Children's Division (CD) records are closed and confidential and can only be released under very limited circumstances. 

'While we cannot discuss specific cases, CD's role includes assisting local law enforcement as allowed by statute and responding to reports made to the Child Abuse and Neglect Hotline at 1-800-392-373.

'The safety and welfare of Missouri's children remains the department's utmost priority in every action we take.'

Wood offered more insight and told the Daily Mail that charges against Deutsch had not been pursued earlier because DSS never elevated the hundreds of hotline calls to law enforcement.

'They'll get a hotline report, and they'll send a worker out to the home, and then they'll try to address those issues at the home without turning it over to law enforcement,' Wood said. 

'They will state that they're required to turn that information over. I can tell you just from my experience in the eight years I've been elected here, that's not the practice that's occurring,' he added. 

Wood said that when he began prosecuting Deutsch's case, the Winfield School District called his office, and 'they were beside themselves' because they had placed hotline calls more times than they could count. 

'My office had no record of it whatsoever, and when we followed up with law enforcement, nothing had been turned over to law enforcement,' Wood told the Daily Mail. 

The prosecutor added that he had suspicions Deutsch was being tipped off by someone working for DSS. 

During forensic interviews with the children living in Deutsch's household, they said 'Brenda would get phone calls, and she'd get a heads up that CD was coming out, so she would tell the children what to say and clean up the house,' according to Wood.

Despite his suspicions, the prosecutor said he was unable to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Deutsch was being tipped off. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Lincoln County Sheriff's Department for comment. 

Johnson said that when she was a child, conditions in Deutsch's house were disgusting and unsanitary because her mother collected exotic animals, which she said meant the home was always full of cages and smelled bad.

She also claimed that Deutsch cared more for her animals than the children in her care. 

'You could tell that there was animals in there. I mean, there was no hiding that,' Johnson told the Daily Mail. 

Indeed, according to Deutsch's Facebook page, the foster mom cares for dogs, monkeys, parrots, and at least two other unique mammalian animals, which appear to be a coati and a spotted skunk.

On her account, she touts herself as 'proud... child of god,' and she regularly posts photos of her animals and various foster children. Some pictures show the children posing with the animals.

In a post dated July 29, 2017, she shared photos to Facebook of her holding a monkey. Someone commented: 'You have beautiful babies Bren.' To which she replied: 'Thank you they are what keeps me together.' 

In another post dated to Mother's Day in 2018, Deutsch shared a family photo from 2013 showing 14 children, as well as Johnson and two other adults.

'I was nominated to post a picture that makes me happy/proud to be a mom,' Deutsch wrote in the caption. 'I'm going to tag some ladies whom I think are fabulous mothers.'

Two people commented positively, indicating that not all her children had a bad time in the home. 'The crew lol I love you mama!!' one person wrote.

'Happy mother's day mom.. they have grown so much since this picture. Your [sic] an amazing mother. I love you,' commented another.

Johnson said that as many as 12 children lived in the home at the same time, with some coming and going according to their foster periods.

The house is about 4,500 sq ft, with seven bedrooms and five bathrooms, and it sits on a 16-acre lot in a wooded area just west of Winfield, a tiny city about 45 miles northwest of St Louis. 

According to realty sites, the house sold for $450,000 on June 15. It is unclear why Deutsch sold the home. 

When the Daily Mail reached out to her realtor, Tim Kister, he said he could not comment due to fiduciary responsibility to his client, though he noted that Deutsch was, 'very polite, for the most part.' 

Johnson said that Deutsch paid for the expenses associated with all her children and animals through foster parent stipends from the state, as well as disability checks.

The foster mom has also been accused of defrauding the state, according to pending felony theft and forgery charges against Deutsch. 

Those charges, filed in 2025, allege that Deutsch stole around $2,000 from the Missouri Department of Social Services by forging signatures on reimbursement invoices for child care services that she never received or paid for.

But Deutsch's attorney, Flees, addressed this in his statement and said: 'I have spoken to the individual listed in the probable cause statement that investigators talked to. He told me in an interview that the Social Services Investigator talked to him about receiving payments for "respite care" he had no idea what respite meant so he denied receiving payments. 

'He has since said that had he been asked if he received payments for "babysitting" he would have said he did receive those payments from Ms Deutsch. 

'He has since said he did care for the children contrary to what was reported to investigators. We have submitted this information to the prosecutor and are asking them to dismiss those charges. They are still considering our request.' 

Deutsch's next hearing regarding those charges is scheduled for July 1, according to Lincoln County Circuit Court records. She has not yet entered a plea in that case. 

The charges include one count of stealing $750 or more, and three counts of forgery. Each count carries a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison and fines of up to $10,000 if convicted.

Johnson said she is glad her mother is facing additional charges and that she hopes they will, 'make up for the two in the plea deal that were dropped.' 

She also said that prosecutors, 'could possibly bring up more before this is over.' 

Wood, the Lincoln County Prosecutor, told the Daily Mail that after Deutsch was arrested, around 20 more of her former foster children came forward with allegations of abuse. 

However, he said he was unable to pursue charges because the accusations were beyond the three-year statute of limitations.

Wood also said that his office will be pursuing the maximum seven-year penalty against Deutsch for the child endangerment charge she pleaded guilty to. 

Deutsch's attorney told the Daily Mail: 'There are certain members of the public who have bought into the sensationalism concerning the "monkey business" which is false. 

'We are confident that the court system has got it right and will continue to get it right when she is sentenced, even if the public has the wrong takeaways from this. We will be asking for probation at sentencing.'

Regarding her mother's punishment, Johnson said: 'I hope that she gets to sit in prison for the rest of her life and be isolated like she did to us. I think that's fair.'