Nicholas Spencer, 32, and his wife Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, 32, are from South Carolina, United States. From 2012 to 2016, he was a staffer for Trey Gowdy, 59, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina’s fourth district from January 3, 2011 to January 3, 2019.
In 2017, Nicholas and Mackenzie quit their jobs in Washington, D.C., USA and moved to Uganda. They lived with in an apartment in Kampala, Uganda with their three foster children including an HIV+ boy born in 2012 in Jinja, Uganda.
According to the Uganda Police Force, Nicholas and Mackenzie cruelly punished the boy for being “stubborn, hyperactive and mentally unstable”. The American foster parents allegedly deprived the Ugandan foster child of warm food, clothing, a bed and education.
In 2019, Mackenzie asked friends for $30,000 via GoFundMe to pay for an emergency medical trip back to the U.S. She wrote, “For the past 12 years, I (Mackenzie) have suffered from joint and spinal issues that have been primarily been resolved with 7 spinal surgeries.”
“Over the past few months, I have noticed symptoms returning which worsened in August,” Mackenzie continued. “After reviewing a CT of my spine, it was determined I would need to undergo an emergency surgery to resolve the problem. We scheduled my surgery as soon as possible (the end of September). I moved to East Africa nearly 3 years ago with my husband, Nick, and we have been doing humanitarian work focused on women’s empowerment and education. We are also foster parents to 3 incredible children.”
It was a woman working as an aid at Nicholas and Mackenzie’s residence in Kampala who alerted authorities of the alleged torture taking place in the household. On December 9, 2022, the foster parents were arrested and booked into the maximum security prison in Luzira, Uganda.
Represented by David Mpanga, Nicholas and Mackenzie were each charged with aggravated torture, aggravated child trafficking, overstaying a visa and working without a permit. The couple claimed in their bail application they had medical conditions that could not be adequately treated while in jail.
On March 22, 2023, Nicholas and Mackenzie appeared before Judge Isaac Muwata in court in Kampala. The judge ordered the couple to pay cash bail of 50 million Ugandan shillings ($13,000) each and prohibited them from leaving Uganda.
On October 31, 2023, Nicholas and Mackenzie appeared in court before High Court Judge Alice Kyomuhangi and pleaded guilty to lesser charges. The couple will now pay a range of fines of up to 105 million Ugandan shillings ($28,000) and were ordered to compensate the child they allegedly tortured with 50 million ($13,215) shillings each.
Mackenzie pleaded guilty to inflicting cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and was sentenced to a fine of 3.36 Ugandan million shillings ($888) or two years in prison while Nicholas pleaded guilty to child neglect and was fined 1.5 million Ugandan shillings ($396) or six months in jail. They both opted to pay fines for both the charges.
Moreover, both Nicholas and Mackenzie pleaded guilty to overstaying a visa and working without a permit. For these charges, they were each sentenced to two months in prison, which were deducted from the time they served while on remand.
CONAN Daily 