Oprah 'shaken to core' by abuse claims at school*

Mark Tran and agencies
Monday November 5, 2007
Guardian Unlimited

Oprah Winfrey today said she was shaken to the core by allegations of
sexual abuse at the school she set up in South Africa.

In a video news conference from Chicago, the media magnate described how
she cried in her apartment in Chicago when she learnt of the news.

"It has shaken me to my core," Ms Winfrey told reporters in South
Africa. "...This has been one of the most devastating, if not the most
devastating experience of my life."

Earlier, a dormitory matron who worked at Ms Winfrey's school for girls
was charged with abusing students and was freed on bail after a brief
court appearance.

Virginia Mokgobo, 27, left the Sebokeng magistrate's court, south of
Johannesburg, with a blanket over her head.

The court said the case was postponed to December 13 pending further
investigations. Ms Mokgobo was arrested on Thursday on charges including
assault, indecent assault and soliciting under-age girls to perform
indecent acts.

She was released on bail of 3,000 rand (£220) in a high profile case in
which at least seven victims have already submitted statements,
according to police.

Ms Winfrey, who founded a media empire on her popular chat show, opened
the $40m (£19.4m) school in January, saying it had been a cherished
dream for years.

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership academy was built on an expansive campus
and lavishly equipped, and is intended to allow children from poor
families to realise their academic potential.

The allegations of mistreatment surfaced when one girl ran away from the
school. They were said to be especially painful for Winfrey, who has
been open about having suffered abuse herself as a child.

In recent weeks, she visited the school twice, distributed her personal
phone number and email address to students, and promised parents to do
all in her power to punish the abusers. She had previously suspended the
headteacher.

Ms Winfrey denied that she had failed the girls, but said there had been
a failure in the "school's systems".

She said she was glad the problems had surfaced now rather than two
years later so there could be a wholesale "clean-up from top to bottom".

The school for 152 girls from poor families was opened to much fanfare,
with Ms Winfrey declaring it "the proudest, gravest day of my life".

The singers Tina Turner, Mariah Carey and Mary J Blige, the film-maker
Spike Lee, and the actor Sydney Poitier attended the opening ceremony
and Nelson Mandela made a speech.