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Oprah: 'The Buck Stops With Me'

Winfrey vows to clean house after sex-abuse charges

By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff

Posted Nov 5, 2007 11:55 AM CST

(Newser) – When first told of abuse allegations at her South African school for disadvantaged girls, Oprah Winfrey "spent about a half-hour going around my house crying," the talk show star said today. Winfrey, who has publicly discussed the abuse she suffered as a child, called the incident "one of most devastating experiences of my life," the AP reports.

The matron who faces 13 charges in the case made bail today in Johannesburg. Although she did not oversee hiring, Oprah said "the buck always stops with me," adding that the school would "clean house from top to bottom." Still, she added: "No one can destroy the dream that I have held and the dream that each girl continues to hold for herself at the school."

Oprah Winfrey addresses reporters as part of the Television Critics Association Press Tour in this Jan. 23, 2005, file photo in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ric Francis, file)
Oprah Winfrey addresses reporters as part of the Television Critics Association Press Tour in this Jan. 23, 2005, file photo in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ric Francis, file)   (Associated Press)
Tiny Virginia Makopo, rear, is cover by a friend as she leaves court in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, with an aid. The dorm matron accused of indecent assault on pupils at Oprah Winfrey's School for disadvantaged girls was freed on bail Monday. Makopo, 27, faces 13 charges...
Tiny Virginia Makopo, rear, is cover by a friend as she leaves court in Johannesburg, South Africa, Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, with an aid. The dorm matron accused of indecent assault on pupils at Oprah Winfrey's...   (Associated Press)
As seen on a control monitor, Oprah Winfrey answers reporters questions via a video link from Chicago during a press conference held in a Johannesburg, South Africa, hotel Monday Nov. 5 2007. A dormitory matron accused of indecent assault on pupils at Oprah Winfrey's school in South Africa for disadvantaged...
As seen on a control monitor, Oprah Winfrey answers reporters questions via a video link from Chicago during a press conference held in a Johannesburg, South Africa, hotel Monday Nov. 5 2007. A dormitory...   (Associated Press)
In this image taken from AP Television News, Oprah Winfrey listens to a question during a video news conference Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, from an undisclosed location. Winfrey answered questions about the arrest Friday of a former employee of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa on...
In this image taken from AP Television News, Oprah Winfrey listens to a question during a video news conference Monday, Nov. 5, 2007, from an undisclosed location. Winfrey answered questions about the...   (Associated Press)
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