A couple from the United States face multiple charges in Uganda related to the abuse of a minor, with at least one of the charges carrying a possible death sentence penalty.
Reuters reported that the 32-year-olds, Nicholas Spencer and his wife Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, were charged in the country's Buganda road court in Kampala with torturing a 10-year-old.
Nicholas Spencer and his wife, Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, pleaded not guilty after they were charged with child torture of a 10-year-old boy in their care while living in a Kampala suburb. A Ugandan state prosecutor said the couple were a flight risk https://t.co/ZhXA97xnv9 pic.twitter.com/FZGnTwE4pz
— Reuters (@Reuters) December 15, 2022
The court levied the charges of aggravated torture, and then the additional charge of of aggravated child trafficking based on allegations of their conduct with the minor identified as John Kayima. The latter charge carries a possible death penalty punishment if convicted.
A state prosecutors in Uganda objected to an application from the couple and said they were in Uganda illegally on expired work permits.
The couple reportedly came to Uganda in 2017, then a year later fostered three children.
