An American couple living in Kampala, Uganda, could face the death penalty after allegedly torturing a 10-year-old boy.
On Dec. 9, police detained South Carolina natives Nicholas Spencer and Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, on suspicion of torturing an HIV-positive 10-year-old kid they were caring for abroad.
“The suspects came to Uganda in 2017, and started working with Akola Project, based in Jinja. The couple joined Motive Creation Agency, and moved with their children to Upper Naguru, where they have been staying together,” the Ugandan Police Force said in a press release.
“It was however, realised that between the year, 2020 and December 2022, the couple constantly tortured, a one Kayima John, a 10-year-old pupil of Dawn Children’s Center in Ntinda, which attracted the attention of neighbours. They alerted the police at Kira Road Division and investigations commenced,” it continued.
The Spencers were then accused of extreme torture, according to the local publication, The Monitor. In Uganda, aggravated torture carries a life sentence.
Nicholas and Mackenzie were also hit with charges of aggravated child trafficking, which could send them to death row if found guilty.
Court documents show that the couple had fostered three children after they came to Uganda in 2018. The children are now under police care.
“Our team of investigators established, that the couple kept the victim barefoot, and naked throughout the day, would occasionally make him squat in an awkward position, with his head facing the floor and hands spread out widely,” police said.
The couple also allegedly forced the boy to eat cold food and forced him to sleep on a wooden platform without any bedding. “We believe that, absent the presence of a camera, the victim could have undergone more cruel acts of torture.”
The caregiver the couple hired to look after the infant claimed she approached authorities after observing the child’s condition deteriorate.
“I wanted to leave the job, but I knew if I left without doing something about it, the torture would continue,” she told the news outlet.
The couple’s bail hearing was scheduled for Wednesday, but they were denied bail because they posed a flight risk, said Joan Keko, an attorney with the Ugandan state prosecutor’s office.
