LONDON — An American couple living in Uganda has been charged with aggregated torture for their alleged treatment of a 10-year-old child they were fostering, according to a statement from the Uganda Police Force.
Nicholas Spencer and Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, were charged with aggravated torture in Buganda Road Court on Dec. 9, police said. They were later charged with child trafficking, The Associated Press reported on Wednesday.
American couple Nicholas Spencer and Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, stand in the dock at Buganda road court, where they were charged with torturing a 10-year-old, in Kampala, Uganda, on Dec. 14, 2022.
Abubaker Lubowa/Reuters
The Spencers pleaded not guilty to the aggravated torture charge, AP reported.
The couple arrived in Uganda as volunteers in 2017, police said in a statement announcing the initial charges.
The couple fostered three children in 2018, including the one they were alleged to have tortured, from an organization called Welcome Ministry, in Jinja City, police said. The couple then joined a private company and moved to Upper Naguru, a neighborhood in Kampala, the capital, police said.
American couple Nicholas Spencer and Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, stand in the dock at Buganda road court, where they were charged with torturing a 10-year-old, in Kampala, Uganda, on Dec. 14, 2022.
Abubaker
