A couple from the United States is facing the death penalty in Uganda after being accused of child trafficking and torturing one of three foster children from a Christian agency.
Nicholas Spencer and Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32 years old, have been detained since December 9 when neighbors in the Ugandan capital Kampala reported their alleged maltreatment.
They relocated to the nation in East Africa in 2017 for humanitarian work and adopted three children from the Welcome Ministry in Jinja the following year.
According to police and local media, this included the accused victim, a 10-year-old boy who attended a school for children with special needs and is HIV-positive.
In reporting their initial arrest, Ugandan police stated that the Spencers “constantly tortured” the youngster from the year 2020, “which drew the attention of neighbors,” who filmed some of the episodes.
The Spencers are accused of abusing the 10-year-old foster child, one of three they took in after moving to Uganda for humanitarian work in 2018.
The couple “kept him barefoot and naked throughout the day” and “sometimes forced him to crouch in an unnatural position with his head towards the floor and his hands spread wide apart,” according to authorities.
According to investigators, he was also forced to sleep on a wooden platform without a mattress or linen and was served only cold meals from the refrigerator.
The force further emphasized that the youngster “may have been subjected to more serious acts of torture behind closed doors.”
According to the Daily Monitor, a caregiver told authorities that only one youngster was tortured because his foster parents accused him of being difficult, hyperactive, and mentally unstable.
“I wanted to leave the job, but I knew that if I did, the suffering would continue,” the caregiver was said to have claimed.
The Spencers were charged with aggravated torture on December 9, which carries a maximum penalty of life in prison. They have entered a not-guilty plea for this charge.
The state prosecutor announced on Wednesday that they had been charged with aggravated child trafficking, which carries the death penalty if convicted.
According to the charging sheet, the pair recruited, transported, and held the child through “abuse of position of vulnerability for purposes of exploitation.”
Tuesday, when the Spencers appeared in magistrate court, the new charge was read aloud. However, they were not permitted to enter a plea because only the High Court may hear the more serious charge.
They were denied bail and ordered to Luzira Prison, a maximum-security facility.
The pair was remanded to Luzira Prison, a maximum security institution on the outskirts of Kampala, pending the setting of a date for their hearing before the higher court.
The couple’s attorney characterized the investigation as a “fishing expedition,” alleging the authorities lacked evidence.
“The last time we were in court, the state stated that their investigations were complete, but today they added a new charge and stated that their investigations remain ongoing,” she told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
“It doesn’t make sense.”
Mackenzie Leigh Mathew Spencer had a previous GoFundMe page for emergency surgery for “joint and spinal difficulties” that had already necessitated seven spinal operations.
Her appeal described how they “went to East Africa” to engage in “women’s empowerment and education-focused humanitarian activities” but had to fly to Spartanburg, South Carolina, for surgery.
“Because we reside abroad, we do not have health insurance in the United States, which means that all medical expenses for this procedure must be paid out of pocket,” she wrote, receiving less than $5,000 of the $28,000 she requested.
Prosecutors claimed that there were no illnesses that could not be treated within Uganda’s jail system, thus their bail application was dismissed.
Prosecutor Joan Keko told the court, “They have no community or familial links in Uganda, and the crime for which they are currently charged carries a life sentence, therefore their risk of absconding from bail is extremely, extremely high.”
The US Embassy in Kampala confirmed that it was aware of reports regarding the arrest and custody of two Americans, and that it was following the situation. Wednesday, the company declined to comment on the latest charge and potential death punishment.
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