An American couple who admitted to abusing a Ugandan youngster and were facing the death penalty are spared

The pair also entered a guilty plea to operating without a permit and remaining in Uganda unlawfully. A court verdict on Tuesday stated that a couple from the United States who had been prosecuted in Uganda with extreme torture and child trafficking had entered a guilty plea to lesser charges. As a result, they will now be subject to fines of up to 105 million shillings ($28,000).Both South Carolina-born Nicholas Spencer and his wife Mackenzie Leigh Mathias Spencer, who are in their early 30s, were arrested in December of last year and charged with more serious offenses against a 10-year-old child they had sponsored and were housing in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. The charge of aggravated child trafficking carries the death penalty in Uganda while aggravated child torture draws a maximum sentence of life in prison. Both defendants denied those charges. High Court judge, Alice Kyomuhangi, said on Tuesday that as a result of a plea bargain with prosecutors, the defendants – who have lived in Uganda since 2017 and had been free on bail since March – agreed to plead guilty to lesser charges.