TV queen (not the drag kind)Oprah Winfrey said that she was” profoundly disappointed” after a Johannesburg court exonerated a former employee of Oprah Winfrey ’s school based in South Africa facing prosecution for abusing young girls. Virginia Makopo was facing charges of sex abuse of minors, reportedly having assaulted numerous kids.

Oprah Winfrey set up the school, named after her ,to promote the education of impoverished girls. Her dream institution, the Girls Leadership Academy, is now under a cloud over the Virginia Makopo case. Oprah applauded the courage of the nine girls who stood up to fight abuse and testified against the alleged offender. The verdict from the Johannesburg was a dampener in the fight for child rights, as ,Mthunzi Mhaga told the media on behalf of the South African Prosecuting Authority that Virginia Makopo had been freed from 14 charges of assault, including sex abuse of students who were minors.

Winfrey who rules the popularity charts, has pumped in millions of dollars into her academy to ensure quality infrastructure and good faculty. She said Monday on TV that she appreciated the efforts of the authorities and the police but expressed dismay at the lax verdict that meant Makopo went scot free .

Even though there was no legal conviction, nine kids displayed ample amounts of it, with Winfrey hailing “their conviction and will to be heard”. The court proceedings at Johannesburg,South Africa went on behind close doors, as the media was debarred from entry.

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