Authorities in Missouri say a 70-year-old foster mother subjected a girl in her care to years of physical, emotional, and psychological abuse before allegedly sending the child to Texas in what one witness described as a trade for a pet monkey.

Court documents state that the state’s Department of Social Services was alerted by an anonymous tipster who reported ongoing abuse in a Troy, Missouri, home. When police later interviewed the girl, she described a pattern of cruelty spanning roughly three years under the care of foster mother Brenda Deutsch.

The child told investigators that Deutsch regularly struck her with a paddle, slapped her, and also abused other members of the household. Prosecutors say the violence was only part of a broader regime of control and degradation.

Lincoln County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wood said Deutsch inflicted emotional abuse, physical abuse, and neglect. Investigators were told that children in the home hoarded food, a common red flag in abuse cases where access to meals is restricted or used as punishment.

According to Wood, the emotional abuse allegedly included throwing away the children’s clothing and sending them for psychological evaluations as a means of control rather than care. Authorities say Deutsch also used residential treatment facilities as punishment, not treatment, further destabilizing the child’s life.

Concerns escalated when the girl’s school reported a pattern of excessive absences. A school resource officer launched an inquiry and discovered the child was no longer in Missouri but in Texas, living with a friend of Deutsch.

Investigators contacted the Texas caregiver and learned that both this person and Deutsch kept exotic animals. A witness told authorities that Deutsch had effectively traded the foster child to the Texas acquaintance in exchange for a monkey.

Police say the Texas caregiver frequently left the girl alone for days at a time to tend to animals, including a 10-day trip to New Mexico. During those absences, the child was reportedly sent to stay at another residence occupied by two disabled adults.

According to prosecutors, those adults were not capable of caring for the girl, and evidence suggests the child was instead caring for them.

Deutsch has been charged with two counts of abuse or neglect of a child and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. The girl has since been removed from the situation, and the investigation into all involved parties remains ongoing.