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NEW DELHI: A US couple, Nicholas and Mackenzie Spencer, has been fined $28,000 by a Uganda court after they pleaded guilty to child cruelty and “inhumane treatment” of their 10-year-old foster child. The Spencers had initially faced more severe charges, including child trafficking and torture, which could have led to a life prison sentence.
The couple admitted to making the child sleep on a wooden platform and feeding him cold food.Their nanny reported the mistreatment to local police last December. The boy, who has special needs, had lived with the couple for two years before their arrest. The Spencers also pleaded guilty to additional charges related to working illegally and unlawfully staying in Uganda.
They were sentenced to two months in prison, which they have already served. The High Court ordered them to pay the victim 100 million Ugandan shillings ($26,000) in compensation.
“The child was in need of 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,” the judge said while delivering her ruling according to BBC.
David Mpanga, the couple’s attorney, told Reuters that the child had psychiatric issues, and the Spencers lacked parenting experience, which led to their failure to adequately care for him.
The couple had been fostering three children in Uganda since relocating there in 2017 to work as volunteers. The case has incited strong criticism from child rights activists in Uganda, who have denounced it as a travesty of justice.
Activist Proscovia Najjumba asked how the couple were allowed to “walk away” after accepting they “mistreated a child”, reported news agency AFP.
Darren Namatovou, founder of Children Phoenix Foundation, told the BBC that “due diligence and background checks needed to be done thoroughly during the adoption process in order to prevent cases of child abuse”.
International adoptions have been a subject of controversy in Uganda. Earlier this year, the government enacted stricter regulations, citing the need to close what they considered “a loophole exploited for child trafficking”.
The couple admitted to making the child sleep on a wooden platform and feeding him cold food.Their nanny reported the mistreatment to local police last December. The boy, who has special needs, had lived with the couple for two years before their arrest. The Spencers also pleaded guilty to additional charges related to working illegally and unlawfully staying in Uganda.
They were sentenced to two months in prison, which they have already served. The High Court ordered them to pay the victim 100 million Ugandan shillings ($26,000) in compensation.
“The child was in need of 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,” the judge said while delivering her ruling according to BBC.
David Mpanga, the couple’s attorney, told Reuters that the child had psychiatric issues, and the Spencers lacked parenting experience, which led to their failure to adequately care for him.
The couple had been fostering three children in Uganda since relocating there in 2017 to work as volunteers. The case has incited strong criticism from child rights activists in Uganda, who have denounced it as a travesty of justice.
Activist Proscovia Najjumba asked how the couple were allowed to “walk away” after accepting they “mistreated a child”, reported news agency AFP.
Darren Namatovou, founder of Children Phoenix Foundation, told the BBC that “due diligence and background checks needed to be done thoroughly during the adoption process in order to prevent cases of child abuse”.
International adoptions have been a subject of controversy in Uganda. Earlier this year, the government enacted stricter regulations, citing the need to close what they considered “a loophole exploited for child trafficking”.
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