Worker at Oprah's SAfrica school on bail

WTHR.com is the news leader for Indianapolis and Central Indiana. Get the best news, weather, sports and traffic information from Channel 13.

Johannesburg, South Africa - A dormitory matron accused of indecent assault on pupils at Oprah Winfrey's school for disadvantaged girls was freed on bail Monday, hours before Winfrey was to answer media questions about the scandal.

Tiny Virginia Makopo, 27, faces 13 charges of indecent assault, assault and criminal injury committed against at least six students aged 13-15 and a 23-year-old at the school.

Makopo said she was innocent when the charges were read during a bail hearing in Johannesburg, and the magistrate allowed her to go free on a bond of $450. Makopo, who was arrested Thursday, was not asked to enter a formal plea.

The school announced October 17 that a dormitory matron had been suspended amid allegations of serious misconduct.

The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls said it had hired private U.S. and South African detectives to investigate, as well as reporting allegations to the South African police.

"It is my deepest hope that the accused is brought to justice and that this serves as a reminder that any time a child has the courage to step forward, it is our duty as adults to listen and take immediate action," Winfrey said in a statement posted on the school's Web site Friday.

Winfrey was to answer reporters' questions in South Africa through a satellite link teleconference from the United States later Monday, according to her Chicago-based Harpo Productions Inc.

Winfrey opened her Leadership Academy for Girls outside Johannesburg on January 2, with celebrities such as Tina Turner and Spike Lee in attendance, as well as former President Nelson Mandela.

The lavish $40 million school was the fulfillment of a promise she made to Mandela six years ago and aims to give 152 girls from deprived backgrounds a quality education in a country where schools are struggling to overcome the legacy of apartheid.

(Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)