(HorizonPost.com) – An Oregon man turned himself in last week after being accused of drugging three girls during a sleepover in his home last August, KPTV reported.
According to court records in Clackamas County, Oregon, Michael Meyden, 57, allegedly laced mango smoothies with a benzodiazepines, a class of medications typically used to treat anxiety or insomnia. He then gave the laced smoothies to the three 12-year-old girls who attended his daughter’s sleepover at his Lake Oswego residence.
Lake Oswego Police were called to the ER at Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland’s Legacy Emanuel on August 27 after the three girls all tested positive for benzodiazepine, Oregon Live reported.
The girls informed detectives that they had been at a sleepover at a friend’s home and they suspected that their friend’s father had given them the drugs without their knowledge, according to the probable cause affidavit.
In the affidavit, Detective Nicole Palmeri said the girls began to feel groggy and even blacked out. She stated that the girls said Michael Meyden was “very involved” with their sleepover activities and that he was the one who directed them to get ready for bed.
Meyden prepared mango smoothies for the girls sometime between 9:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. and “insisted they drink them,” Palmeri wrote. According to the girls, the smoothies were speckled with “tiny white chunks.”
After the girls went to bed, Meyden reportedly made repeated visits to the basement where the girls were sleeping, checking to see if they were asleep and even moving one girl’s body. Another girl, fearful of what Meyden planned to do to them, texted her mother at 1:43 a.m. Sunday, August 27, asking her to come and take her to the emergency room.
According to the affidavit, the parents of the other two girls were also contacted. When they arrived at the home at about 3:00 a.m., Meyden at first seemed hesitant to let them in. Eventually, he relented and the parents retrieved their daughters.
Meyden faces multiple charges including causing another to ingest a controlled substance. He appeared in Clackamas County Court last Wednesday where he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to court records, Meyden divorced late last year. He and his ex-wife owned the Lake Oswego home. Neither Meyden’s daughter nor his other child was named as a victim, according to Oregon Live.
Copyright 2024, HorizonPost.com
