American Couple jailed for allegedly torturing their 10-year-old foster son

Two foster parents of American origin have been charged by Buganda Road Court with the Aggravated torture of their 10-year-old son.

The couple which was charged on 09/12/2022 were remanded until 14/12/2022 when they will return to court.

SCP Enanga Fred the Police Spokesperson says that Nicholas Spencer 32 years and his wife Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, a 32-year-old, volunteer, fostered 3 children, including Kayima John, in 2018, from Welcome Ministry, in Jinja City.

The suspects came to Uganda in 2017 and started working with Akola Project, based in Jinja. However, the couple later joined Motive Creation Agency and moved with their children to Upper Naguru, where they have been staying together.

Enanga says that between 2020 and December 2022, the couple constantly tortured 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.

“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, he spent his nights on a wooden platform, without a mattress or beddings and was served cold meals from the fridge. We believe, the victim could have endured more severe acts of torture, away from the camera,” says Enanga.

He applauded the neighbours, teachers and the victim, for taking the courage to stand up against acts of child torture. Enanga urged all probation officers and social workers, to continuously monitor the well-being of children in foster homes, and to guard against handing over vulnerable children to abusive foster parents, or other forms of harm.

“For instance, what happened to the victim, in the last couple of years, probably could have been prevented, if they had closely monitored the well-being of the foster children,” Enanga added.