A white American couple living in Kampala, Uganda, pleaded guilty to reduced charges in a Ugandan court last week after facing counts of aggravated torture and child trafficking, following their being charged with mistreating their 10-year-old African foster child.
The South Carolinians were accused of “repeated unbecoming inhumane treatment” of the boy, which included but was not limited to feeding him cold food and having him sleep on a wooden cot.
Nicholas and Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 34, also pleaded guilty to inflicting cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment. They were given the option of either serving time or paying a fine.
An investigation was launched into the Spencers, who were entrusted with caring for the HIV-positive boy for two years before their arrest after his nanny contacted Kampala police in December 2022.
According to the police, the couple was found to have kept the child barefoot and unclothed on cold, tiled floors in their home throughout the day. Additionally, the caretaker reported that the child had not been to school for four months.
“I wanted to leave the job, but I knew if I left without doing something about it, the torture would continue,” the caretaker said.
Originally, the couple faced the death penalty for the “torturing” of the boy but were able to take a plea and receive a far more lenient penalty.
The husband pleaded guilty to one count of child neglect and was fined 1.5 million shillings or given a six-month jail sentence. Meanwhile, the wife received a sentence of a 3.36 million shillings fine or a two-year prison term. Additionally, the Spencers must pay 50 million shillings each, leaving the couple’s total fines at a little more than $26,000 at current conversion rates. The fines are slated to be put toward the special-needs boy’s care.
‘The child was in need of help and support, having lost his father and having been abandoned by his own mother….
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