American couple ordered to pay Shs100m over torture

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  The High court has ordered an American couple to compensate a child they tortured with Shs 100 million. The couple; Mackenzie Leigh and her husband Nicholas Scott Spencer pleaded guilty to intentionally inflicting physical and mental pain and suffering on a 10-year-old HIV-positive fostered son whose name remains withheld in respect of his right to privacy.

Court heard that the couple, represented by David Mpanga, isolated the boy from other children, withdrew him from school, made him sleep on a wooden slab without a mattress, repeatedly made him sit in one position on cold tiles with his legs crossed and folded, and fed him on frozen food. The boy was also kept under CCTV surveillance as punishment for misbehaviour under the pretext of disciplining him.

The couple was initially charged with aggravated torture and aggravated child trafficking, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or
punishment, and child neglect. According to the prosecution, the couple that has stayed in Uganda since 2017, recruited, transported and kept the child through abuse of position of vulnerability for purposes of exploitation.