Oprah Winfrey Has Secret Meeting With Child Abuse Girl's Parents  11/27/07

Oprah Winfrey has had her first meeting with the young victim at the centre of sexual assault allegations at her all-girls school in South Africa.

The U.S. chat show queen made an "emotional" visit to the Henley-on-Klip Leadership Academy, which she co-founded in 2006, on Sunday (24Nov07) to meet with the tragic 12-year-old and her parents.

Former employee Virginia Mokgobo, 27, was arrested in October (07) on numerous charges including assault, indecent assault and soliciting underage girls to perform indecent acts, after a local newspaper article brought attention to the matter earlier that month.

The girl's dad tells People.com, "The meeting went well. It took about two hours, and I appreciate that Oprah took time to listen. Oprah looked beautiful and was so easy to talk to. It went very smoothly. I am very happy and pleased that Oprah heard our side of the story. We have closure."

The girl had left the school complaining about incidents involving the school's staff, but her claims did not result in charges against the dorm matron.

Until now, no contact had been made, and the family had not been not invited to an emergency meeting in October, at which Winfrey apologized for the controversy.

Mokgobo is currently free on bail and the case has been postponed until 13 December (07) to facilitate further investigation.

 

 

 

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