Talk show Queen Oprah Winfrey has said she is "profoundly disappointed" at the acquittal of a woman accused of sexual assault at the talk show hosts South African school for teenagers.
Tiny Virginia Makopo, the former school matron, was accused by the prosecution of 14 counts of sexual assault, including trying to fondle and kiss the girl students at the school. She was also charged with assaulting one of the pupils and a fellow supervisor at the college.
Prosecutor Etienne Venter has after the trial, "She was found not guilty on all of the charges," and according to Sapa news agency, Venter would not be seeking an appeal against the court’s ruling.
South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority spokesman Mthunzi Mhaga commented that: "The magistrate indicated that the state did not prove itself case beyond reasonable doubt on all the charges. We won't be appealing the judgment."
The allegations first arose around the matron at Oprah’s $40 million school, or “Leadership Academy” soon after it opened just outside South African capital Johannesburg in 2007.
Oprah has said that she was "shaken to the core" by the scandal, and the claims of sexual abuse at a place she had thought would be a refuge. She said that it was one of the most devastating periods in her life.
She was recorded Monday saying that the staff at her school are "committed to providing a nurturing educational environment so that all of our girls may continue to flourish. And they are indeed thriving".
