On Friday I reported that Oprah had left for South Africa at the last minute, due to some accusations of misconduct at her Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls. I made a point not to speculate about what the accusations were, but obviously one’s mind goes to the worst place. We knew it involved one of the dorm matrons. It turns out she’s been accused of fondling one of the girls inappropriately, and physically and verbally abusing many of the girls. It came to light when a girl ran away as a result of the abuse. Oprah has since gone back to the school, and has hired a team of investigators to figure out what happened.

“A matron at Oprah Winfrey’s posh school for girls near Vereeniging apparently “fondled” one of the pupils, and assaulted another. Rapport newspaper has also revealed that the matron, who is alleged to have grabbed a girl by the throat and thrown her against a wall, is not the only one to have been charged with unacceptable behavior by girls at Oprah’s school. They claim John Samuel, Chief Executive Officer at the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, failed to take action after their first reports of alleged abuse.”

[From South Africa’s News 24]

It sounds like the issue is not only the matron, but the CEO who didn’t do anything when he learned about the abuse. He’s taken a leave of absence. The matron has been suspended, and there’s an investigation that’s ongoing by the child protection unit. One of the girls who was being abused ran away and made it back to her parents home, where she told them the abuse had become intolerable. Parents were flown in from all over the country to a meeting Oprah held that lasted over two hours.

Apparently the matron also swore and yelled at the girls in addition to physically assaulting and sexually fondling at least one of them. Oprah has hired an investigative team which includes a former Chicago police officer, who have already been flown to the school and are meeting with the girls. There’s also a extra security at the school now.

This story is very creepy, and somehow not surprising. I can see how a person in a position of authority could get away with some serious crimes in a boarding school setting. Children don’t have the same access to their parents, and parents are less likely to notice a change in behavior. I’m not sure what measures they can come up with to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future – I would assume that Oprah already had them do background checks on employees. I hope the CEO who ignored the girls’ reports is fired.