Oprah Winfrey news conference: Shaken

By Karyn Chenoweth Nov 5, 2007, 16:57 GMT

A press photographer try to catch a glimpse of former dormitory employee at the Oprah Winfrey Academy for Girls, Virginia Mokgobo, through the key hole of the court door as she appeared for the first time at the Sebokeng magistrate\'s court, Johannesburg, South Africa, 05 November 2007. Virginia Mokgobo was arrested on charges of indecent assault, assault and crimen injuria following alleged abuse of children at the academy started and financed by Oprah Winfrey. EPA/KIM LUDBROOK

Chicago, IL- Oprah Winfrey said Monday she wept when she learned of allegations of abuse and she vowed that she would be "cleaning house" at the exclusive African academy.

"This has been one of the most devastating, if not the most devastating, experience of my life," she said during a video news conference in Chicago.

Tiny Virginia Makopo, 27, faces 13 charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury committed against at least six teenage students. Makopo, who says she is innocent, was released on bail after a court hearing in South Africa.

The Cape Argus, a South African newspaper, quoted several students at the school who alleged Makopo grabbed a girl by the throat and threw her against a wall.

Citing "The buck always stops with me," Winfrey vowed to tighten the school's screening process for hiring faculty and staff.

Oprah said the head mistress's contract would not be renewed and certain other staffers would go."We are removing the dorm parents, and as I have said to the girls, [we are] cleaning house from top to bottom."

Winfrey, who has been forthright of her experiences of being sexually abused as a child, said she was devastated when the school's chief executive, John Samuel, told her in early October that a group of 15 girls had come forward with a list of complaints - including the alleged sexual assault of one of their classmates.

"When I first heard about it I spent about a half-hour going around my house crying," she said.

"It has shaken me to my core."

At a cost of $40 million, the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls was created in January of 2007 to give 152 girls from poor backgrounds a good quality education. Located outside Johannesburg, the school is the culmination of a promise Winfrey made six years ago to former South African President Nelson Mandela to help clean up the country's education that has yet to recover from the racially divisive policies of apartheid.