Oregon dad accused of drugging daughter's friends at sleepover
An Oregon father is facing multiple charges after reportedly drugging his daughters friends with benzodiapozenes like the drugs pictured here (George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. - An Oregon father is accused of using smoothies to drug his daughter’s 12-year-old friends during a sleepover, reportedly watching them as they blacked out and moving one girl’s body on a bed before he was caught.
According to court documents, police in Lake Oswego, Oregon, were called to a local hospital in August 2023 after three 12-year-old girls tested positive for benzodiazopene, a depressant that "produces sedation and hypnosis," according to the DEA.
The girls told police they had attended a sleepover the night before at their friend’s house, where the friend’s father, 57-year-old Michael Meyden, made mango smoothies and "insisted they drink them" after a night of facials and movies in the basement.
The girls told officers the smoothies had "tiny white chunks throughout and sprinkled on top," court documents state. One girl tried to decline the smoothie, but Meyden reportedly made her a second one and insisted she try it, police said. The girl told police she took a few sips but didn't drink much of it, though Meyden monitored her consumption and got mad when he saw that the girls were drinking out of each other's drinks. He had given each of them a different colored, reusable straw and insisted they drink out of their own cup, they told police.
One girl said after drinking it, she felt "woozy, hot and clumsy," then tipped over, blacked out and went into a "thick, deep sleep."
Another girl managed to stay awake, telling officers she "could feel him watching her by his presence as she kept her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep." She said she believed he was "doing tests to make sure we weren’t awake," at one point waving his finger under a girl's nose and twice moving a girl’s arm and body on the bed.
The girl "remained awake in fear that Mr. Meyden was going to do something," court documents state.
At 1:43 a.m., the girl sent a text to 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!!"
According to court documents, the girl was eventually able to get in touch with a family friend who came and picked her up. The family friend woke up the girl’s parents, who then notified the other girls’ parents.
When the parents drove to Meyden’s house at 3 a.m. to pick up the other girls, Meyden reportedly resisted and asked them to return in the morning. The parents said they'd be bringing the children home.
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A police affidavit states that one of the girls couldn’t walk on her own and kept asking "what happened." That’s what prompted the parents to take her to the hospital.
The next day, when police spoke to the girl roughly 12 hours after she drank the smoothie, officers said she "walked slowly and used the assistance of her mother for balance, her eyelids were heavy, and she spoke slowly."
Meyden was charged in Clackamas County Circuit Court on Feb. 26, six months after the sleepover took place. He’s facing six felony charges and three misdemeanors: three counts of causing another to ingest a controlled substance, three counts of application of a Schedule 4 controlled substance to another, and three counts of delivery of a controlled substance to a minor.
He was arraigned Wednesday, Feb. 28, and posted a $50,000 bail.
According to court records, he and his wife divorced on Oct. 17, 2023, less than two months after the sleepover.