U.S. couple charged in Uganda with torturing 10-year-old boy

Reuters
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KAMPALA (Reuters) - An American couple in Uganda have been charged with "aggravated torture" of a 10-year-old boy in their care, police said on Tuesday.

Nicholas Spencer and his wife, Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, both 32, came to Uganda in 2017 and took in three children under foster care, including the victim, police said in a statement posted on their Facebook page on Tuesday.

Allegations against the couple include keeping the victim barefoot and naked throughout the day at their home in Naguru, a suburb of north Kampala, and making him sleep without a mattress or bedding, police said.

The U.S. Embassy acknowledged a Reuters request for details on the case and said it would respond in due course.

The couple, who could not be reached for comment, were charged and remanded in custody on Friday and were due to appear in court for a bail hearing on Wednesday, police said.

(Reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Editing by Bhargav Acharya and Nick Macfie)