Getty A tray of different smoothies.
Michael Meyden is a Lake Oswego, Oregon, former Human Resources Director who is accused of drugging his underage daughter’s friends with spiked smoothies at a sleepover, according to a news release from police.
He is accused by prosecutors of giving the prescription-drug laced smoothies to three 12-year-old girls during the summer sleepover, police say. In public records, the address associated with Meyden, 57, comes up to a home assessed at $1.1 million, but divorce records obtained by The Oregonian show he now lives in an RV park.
According to the Oregonian, police say Meyden “laced mango smoothies with benzodiazepine and served the drinks to his daughter’s friends.”
Here’s what you need to know:
Drugs Were Detected in the Bloodstreams of the 3 Girls, Police Say
A 57-year-old man is accused of drugging three 12-year-old girls with sedative-laced smoothies during his daughter’s sleepover at his Oregon home, court records show
On Saturday, August 26, 2023, Lake Oswego police “were notified that three 12-year-old girls were being treated at Randall Children’s Hospital after reporting they had been exposed to an unknown prescription drug while at a sleepover at a friend’s home in Lake Oswego,” a news release from the City of Lake Oswego reads.
“Detectives investigated the incident and determined that 57-year-old Michael Meyden of Lake Oswego, who was the host of the sleepover, was responsible for the drugs detected in the girls’ bloodstreams,” it says.
“A Clackamas County Grand Jury heard evidence in the case and issued an indictment against Mr. Meyden for the following charges,” the city wrote, listing:
3 counts of Causing Another to Ingest a Controlled Substance
3 counts of Application of a Schedule-4 Controlled Substance to Another
3 counts of Delivery of a Controlled Substance to a Minor
“Mr. Meyden turned himself in at the Clackamas County Jail on February 28, 2024, and was lodged for the listed charges,” the release notes.
According to Oregon Live, “Meyden and his wife divorced late last year; they owned a home in Lake Oswego at the time of the sleepover.” According to the newspaper, “Court records list Meyden’s current address as an RV park in Vancouver,” and “the divorce filing notes that Meyden worked as a human resources director but was out of work at the time he and his wife split up.”
Michael Meyden Is Accused of Waving His Hand in Front of a Girl’s Face to See if She Was Sleeping
Lake Oswego resident Michael Meyden turned himself in at Clackamas County Jail Wednesday after being accused of drugging three 12-year-old girls during a sleepover at his home:
According to a police affidavit obtained by The Oregonian, the girls told police that they believed they had “unknowingly been given drugs by their friend’s father,” explaining they felt “groggy, even blacking out.”
The girls told police they “got ready for bed at Mr. Meyden’s direction,” the Oregonian reported, citing the affidavit, which said the girls watched movies and “did facials” during the sleepover in the home’s basement.
Meydean “insisted they drink” the smoothies even though they had “tiny white chunks throughout and sprinkled on top,” the affidavit says, according to The Oregonian.
One girl did not ingest much of the drinks and she told police that Meyden came downstairs and held “his finger under one girl’s nose and waving his hand in front of her face to see if she was asleep,” the newspaper reported, adding that the girl “remained awake in fear that Mr. Meyden was going to do something” to the other girl and eventually texted her mother, “Mom please pick me up and say I had a family emergency. I don’t feel safe. I might not respond but please come get me (crying emoji), Please. Please pick up. Please. PLEASE!!”
Eventually, the girl was picked up and her parents told the other girls’ parents, who came to get them from Meyden’s house at 3 a.m., according to The Oregonian.
“Mr. Meyden specifically gave each of the girls specific colored reusable straws to distinguish their own drink. Mr. Meyden was adamant that the girls drink out of their own cups,” the affidavit said, according to NBC News.
“(The girl) stated Mr. Meyden returned from the sliding glass door and stood near the headboard for what she thought was 15 minutes. (The girl) stated she could feel him watching her by his presence as she kept her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep. (The girl) said when he finally went upstairs she continued trying to get ahold of anyone she could to pick her up,” the affidavit reads, according to Lake Oswego Review.
The motive is not clear.
Jail records show that Meyden is no longer in the jail.
“Mr. Meyden is presumed innocent,” Meyden’s attorney Mark Cogan told NBC News. “We have not seen the evidence. The indictment was issued by a grand jury behind closed doors where no judge, no defense attorney, was allowed. And we hope that people will reserve judgment until all the facts are known.”
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