Dad sentenced for drugging girls’ smoothies during sleepover

LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. (KPTV/Gray News) - An Oregon father was sentenced to 24 months in prison on Monday for drugging three girls during his daughter’s sleepover.

Michael Meyden, 57, was found guilty of giving three 12-year-old girls a sleeping drug during his daughter’s sleepover in his Lake Oswego home in August 2023, court documents say.

Two of the victims’ mothers addressed Meyden and the judge in court and pleaded for the maximum sentence of four and a half years, saying they feared the worst could have happened that night. They say his two-year sentence is not enough.

“No decent parent puts their hands on drugged and unconscious young girls without nefarious intent. Do not for one second think that I don’t know who and what you are,” said one of the girl’s mothers.

Meyden laced mango smoothies given to the girls with benzodiazepine, usually used to treat insomnia and panic attacks.

“I have cried, I have raged, all while doing the best I can to wrap my daughter in all the love and support I can possibly give her to help her heal from what you did. Look at me,” said one of the girl’s mothers to Meyden in court.

The girls, who were 12 at the time, told police Meyden made them drink smoothies with white powder in it. The court documents said the girls told police they felt groggy, with some even blacking out.

Documents state that Meyden made repeated visits to the basement where the girls slept — watching them sleep and, at one point, holding his finger under one girl’s nose and waving his hand in front of her face to see if she was asleep.

One of the girls says she managed to stay awake and texted her mom just before 2 a.m.: “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. Please. Please pick up. Please. Please!!”

Documents said she then contacted a family friend who came and picked her up, took her home and woke up her parents.

Around 3 a.m., two of the parents of the girls went to the home to get the other girls. Documents say Meyden resisted letting them in at first, telling the parents the girls were sleeping.

Meyden finally let the parents in, and the girls were taken home.

All three girls tested positive for benzodiazepine.

“You played Russian roulette with my child’s life,” said one of the girl’s mothers.

The prosecution said police searched Meyden’s home for cameras and reviewed his technology but found no clear motive for the druggings.

Meyden gave a seven-minute apology, saying his daughter had tried to sneak out once before and he was concerned for their safety.

“I deserve that speculation but I have to tell everyone here I was truly worried about them,” said Meyden. “I just wanted to go to bed and I wanted to go to bed knowing that they were in their bed.”

He said he wanted them to feel “drowsy, not comatose.”

One of the mothers said at the hospital that night, tests showed her daughter had been overdosed.

Meyden had pleaded not guilty on Feb. 28 after being charged with causing another person to ingest a controlled substance.

Three of the girls made statements directed at Meyden, saying their lives have become a living hell and calling him a monster. They say they are traumatized and have lost trust in adults. They also asked the judge to hand down the maximum sentence.

“Nothing you can say can change what you did and what your intentions were,” said one of the girl’s mothers. “There is no forgiveness to be had here. You can take that to your grave.”

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