Girls Tell Lie To Get On `Jenny Jones' -- Free Trip To Chicago Was Motive For Oregon Teens

SANDY, Ore. - An Oregon teenager now says she lied to TV talk-show host Jenny Jones so she and her friend could get a free trip to Chicago.

Stephanie Fletcher and Janie Lamance, both sophomores at Sandy High School, appeared on a segment of "The Jenny Jones Show" called "Stop Harassing My Androgynous Teen." It aired Oct. 16.

Janie recounted how she had been taunted at school over her lack of makeup and her wardrobe of baggy boys' clothes. She said her classmates called her "Plumber Boy" or "Bob" because she wore boys' clothes.

Stephanie explained how she shoved Janie into a locker for kicks, then justified her bullying by saying there's nothing to do in her town.

"It was all just a lie," Stephanie, 15, told The Oregonian.

Stephanie said Janie's mother approached her early last month with the idea of a free trip to celebrate Janie's 15th birthday.

"I went because they asked me if I'd go and play the part."

Principal saw videotape of show

There was never any mention that the girls were from Oregon, but a videotaped copy of the program wound up in the hands of David Gilbertson, Sandy High principal. Concerned about the allegations of intolerance, Gilbertson interviewed both girls.

Both admitted faking their animosity - and concocting the locker-shove story - to get on TV, Gilbertson said. The girls actually had recently become friends, according to Stephanie.

Tracey Lamance, who called the syndicated TV program with her daughter's story, said Janie indeed has been harassed at school about her appearance.

For the taping, Janie wore an oversized sweat jacket, baggy pants, a ball cap turned backward and no makeup.

Tracey Lamance said the goal was not to score a vacation, but to send a message to girls at Sandy High who were hounding her daughter.

She thought the segment was about girls who were teased for dressing like boys. She said she didn't know the definition of "androgynous" - a blurring of the male and female roles or appearance.

`You might say part of it was true'

Questioned about what was said on the talk show, Tracey Lamance said, "I think you might say part of it was true and part of it wasn't." She wouldn't elaborate.

On the program, a dark-haired woman identified only as Roxann was introduced as Stephanie's guardian. At that moment Stephanie's mother, Nancy Fletcher, was at home wondering where her daughter was.

Stephanie said she knew her mother wouldn't let her go on the three-day trip, so she didn't ask.

Tracey Lamance said she tried to reach Stephanie's mother, but ended up asking a friend - Roxann - to pose as the girl's guardian.

"My daughter went without my permission and I had no knowledge of it," Nancy Fletcher said. Roxann, when questioned on the show by Jones, said she intended to ground Stephanie for her alleged bad behavior.

Sandy Police Chief Dale Scobert said there was no crime in taking Stephanie, a minor, out of town without parental permission.

Charges such as kidnapping or custodial interference would be appropriate only if there was criminal intent, he said.

"We would need a victim, and no one's complained," he said. "We're not even looking at it."

Producers of "The Jenny Jones Show" were out of the office this week because Jones is on a book tour, said Jay Stern, the show's publicist.

Only producers would grant interviews, he said.

Girls given new looks

The Sandy girls were joined on the Oct. 16 episode by Kendra, who was scorned for her big feet, and Amy, ridiculed by schoolmates as a "four-eyed geek." For the finale, the girls were led out in new, very feminine clothing and hairdos courtesy of a Mario Triccoci stylist.

Janie was given a stuffed bear and a $200 gift certificate to The Gap. Her mother said producers paid for airfare, hotel rooms and child care for her 12-year-old son back home.

Tracey Lamance said since the show aired, her daughter has endured a different form of ridicule: She's being called a liar.

"She's upset over this whole thing," said Lamance, who would not let her daughter be interviewed.