US couple detained in Uganda on child torture charges

• Uganda’s state prosecutor has said that an American couple detained on charges of aggravated torture of a 10-year-old boy now face an additional charge of aggravated child trafficking
• If convicted, Nicholas Spencer and his wife, Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, could face the death penalty
• The couple have been in custody since 9th December, after they were charged with aggravated torture of the child, who was living in their home under foster care in the capital Kampala

KAMPALA, Uganda: Uganda’s state prosecutor has said that an American couple detained on charges of aggravated torture of a 10-year-old boy now face an additional charge of aggravated child trafficking.

If convicted, Nicholas Spencer and his wife, Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, could face the death penalty.

The couple have been in custody since 9th December, after they were charged with aggravated torture of the child, who was living in their home under foster care in the capital Kampala.

The Americans have both pleaded not guilty.

Meanwhile, Reuters reported that the couple have also been charged with “aggravated trafficking in children” but have yet to enter a plea.

The couple’s lawyer was quoted by Ugandan newspaper, the Monitor, as dismissing the case as a “fishing expedition” by authorities, stressing there is no evidence that the Americans committed such crimes.

According to the charge sheet, prosecutors accuse the couple of having recruited, transported and kept the child through “abuse of position of vulnerability for purposes of exploitation.”

In an interview with Reuters this week, Jacquelyne Okui spokeswoman for the public prosecutor’s office, said the new charge was read out to the couple when they appeared in a magistrate’s court this week, but they were not allowed to make a plea as the case can only be heard at the High Court.

“We will begin the process of committing them to the High Court, but we cannot say when that will be finalized so they can be produced in court,” Okui said.

The first charge of aggravated torture of a child has a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Earlier this wek, the US Embassy in Kampala declined to comment on the latest charge.