Parents fined £23,000 for inhumane treatment of 10-year-old foster child

01 November 2023 , 16:27

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The pair stand in the dock at a court in Buganda (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

A married couple has been fined £23,000 ($28,000) dollars by a Ugandan court after pleading guilty to child cruelty and "inhumane treatment" of their 10-year-old special needs foster child.

Nicholas and Mackenzie Spencer, both 32 from South Carolina in the US but moved to Kampala, accepted the charges as part plea deal that saw the far more serious charges of child trafficking and torture dropped. For those, they could have faced life in prison.

They also pleaded guilty to degrading treatment, working illegally, and unlawfully staying in Uganda without permits.

The pair were accused of making the boy sleep on a wooden platform and feeding him cold food. Last December, their nanny reported the couple to the police for the "repeated unbecoming inhumane treatment" of the boy.

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The two chose to take a plea deal to avoid the far more serious accusations of trafficking and torture (AFP via Getty Images)

The boy lived with the couple for two years before they were arrested. The two have been sentenced to two months in prison, which has already been served after they were arrested. They have been ordered by High Court Judge Alice Kyomuhangi to pay a victim compensation of 100 million Ugandan shillings ($26,000 or £22,000).

Judge Kyomuhangi said: "The child needed help and support, having lost his father and having been abandoned by his own mother. Unfortunately, the accused persons failed to manage his peculiar behaviours."

It's reported the boy was also HIV+.

David Mpanga, the couple's lawyer, said the pair have also been charged with overstaying a visa and working without a permit.

International adoption remains controversial in Uganda (AFP via Getty Images)

They fostered three children in the Great Lakes region of Africa after moving to the country to work as volunteers. Child rights activists in Uganda called the sentencing a mockery of justice.

Activist Proscovia Najjumba slammed how the couple could "walk away" after accepting they "mistreated a child", reports AFP.Darren Namatovou, founder of Children Phoenix Foundation, told the that more care is needed to properly vet those who want to adopt children to prevent child abuse.

International adoptions remain controversial in Uganda and lawmakers continue to bring in new laws to remove what the government claims are loopholes used for child trafficking.

Charlie Jones