American couple accused of torturing Ugandan boy ordered to pay him Ksh.4M

The two served as foster parents of the 10-year-old, who lived with them at their Nagura Home.

Following a plea agreement with the director of public prosecution (DPP), the couple pled down to charges of aggravated child trafficking and torture.

Nicholas Scott Spencer and Mackenzie Leing Mathias will each pay half of the compensation.

The charges were amended to include torturing their ten-year-old foster child in Uganda, and the man in question, Spencer, was convicted of child neglect, unlawful stay in Uganda, and employment without a permit.

Mathias, the wife, was charged with cruelty, inhumane treatment, and working without a work permit.

The two stayed illegally in Uganda from September 21, 2022 to December 20, 2022, with Spencer staying from November 30, 2022 to December 20, 2022. They did not have a permit at the time, according to Uganda Citizenship and Immigration Control Act cap 66.

They were each fined Ksh.133,587 and Ksh.59,439 respectively. 

According to the Citizen, the Office of the Director of Prosecution Asset Recovery Management Fund will receive the compensation through the Bank of Uganda and will appoint an interim trustee because the victim had no family members.

"...in the interim, pending the appointment of a trustee who will manage these funds for the victim and given the circumstances of this victim who seems to have no family, to ensure that the funds are properly managed for the benefit of the child, I order that the Office of the DPP shall work with the public trustee who is the Administrator-General at least within three months from date of this order to agree on how this money should be managed for the benefit of this child," Justice Komuhangi ordered, as reported by The Citizen.