Oprah Winfrey faced reporters in South Africa Monday for the first time since allegations of physical and sexual abuse rocked the campus of her exclusive all-girl academy.
"When I first heard about it I spent about a half-hour going around my house crying," Winfrey said at the video news conference, beamed into the country via satellite from Chicago.
"What I know is that no one — not the accused nor any persons — can destroy the dream that I have held and the dream that each girl continues to hold for herself at the school," Winfrey said. "And I am prepared to do whatever is necessary to make sure that the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls becomes a safe and nurturing and enriched setting that I have envisioned, a place capable of fostering a full measure of these girls' productivity, creativity and of their humanity."
Superintendent Andre Neethling, head of the police's child protection unit in Gauteng province, told reporters after the video conference that 27-year-old former dormitory matron Virginia Tiny Mokgobo has been charged with 13 counts of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury committed against at least six students aged 13-15 and a 23-year-old at the school. She entered a plea of not guilty.
"There were at least three cases of serious indecent assault and these escalated for roughly four months," Neethling said.
Mokgobo, who was taken into custody Thursday (Nov. 1), was freed on 3,000 rand ($458) bail Monday after a brief court appearance. She left the Sebokeng magistrate court, south of Johannesburg, with a blanket covering her head. The court said the case was postponed to Dec. 13 to allow for further investigations.
Winfrey told reporters that this experience "has been one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating experience of my life" and she is currently in the midst of "cleaning house."
"We are removing the dorm parents, and as I have said to the girls, (we are) cleaning house from top to bottom," said Winfrey, who has herself suffered sexual abuse as a child. "It has shaken me to my core."
The 53-year-old talk show host praised students who came forward to report the alleged abuse as showing the kind of leadership qualities she hoped to foster in the school.
"My experience with child predators is that no one ever, ever abuses just one child," said Winfrey.
As previously reported, Winfrey has given the students cell phones so that the girls can contact her directly with any future problems. The billionaire philanthropist is furious with staffers who allegedly ignored the students' complaints of abuse.
"Knowing what I know now the screening process was inadequate even though I was not directly responsible for recruiting dorm parents," she told the packed room of journalists listening to the video conference. "No, I don't think as a school we have failed the girls. I feel there are systems within the school that failed the girls. I don't feel that it has harmed my personal reputation because I have done nothing wrong."
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