The Oregon father accused of drugging three 12-year-old girls’ smoothies at a sleepover for his daughter divorced his wife just weeks after the alleged incident, court records show.
A Clackamas County grand jury on Feb. 26 indicted Michael Meyden, 57, on 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 in connection with the Aug. 26, 2023, sleepover he hosted in Lake Oswego.
Weeks after the sleepover, on Oct. 17, 2023, Meyden’s wife, Yukiko Ishida Meyden, filed for divorce. Court documents show Meyden was set to assume 100% of the family’s $1.2 million home.
In August 2023, authorities were alerted to three 12-year-old girls who were hospitalized in Lake Oswego after testing positive for benzodiazepine, a depressant that produces sedation and hypnosis. The girls told police that they had been at a sleepover the night before, during which Meyden made them mango smoothies and “insisted they drink them,” according to an affidavit obtained by Fox News Digital.
OREGON DAD ALLEGEDLY DRUGGED DAUGHTER’S 12-YEAR-OLD FRIENDS AT SLEEPOVER WITH LACED SMOOTHIES
Michael Meyden, 57, is facing 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. (LinkedIn)
“Mr. Meyden is presumed innocent and we hope that people will reserve judgment until all of the facts and circumstances are known,” Meyden’s defense attorney, Mark Cogan, said in a statement to Fox News Digital and other outlets.
DRUG CRIMINALIZATION COULD SIGNAL CULTURAL SHIFT IN PROGRESSIVE STATE, PORTLAND TRIAL ATTORNEY SAYS
The girls sleeping over at Meyden’s house on Aug. 26, 2023, told police the suspect was “was constantly checking in on them and interjecting himself into their conversations.”
“The girls stated they played in the sprinklers, went in the hot tub, took showers and got ready for bed at Mr. Meyden’s direction. The girls stated they spent the majority of their time in the basement, where they were doing a ‘spa night,’ watching movies while they did facials,” the affidavit states.
Meyden then allegedly made them smoothies that were “dull orange in color with tiny white chunks throughout and sprinkled on top.”
Michael Meyden and his wife filed for divorce just weeks after an August 2023 incident in which he allegedly drugged three girls’ smoothies at a sleepover for his daughter. (Pinterest)
One girl said Meyden “encouraged” her to try the smoothie even after she told him she didn’t want it. Meyden also allegedly gave the girls reusable straws in different colors so they could tell whose smoothie was whose and became angry when they started sipping from each other’s drinks, the affidavit says.
One victim told police she felt “woozy, hot and clumsy” after drinking her smoothie and then fell into a “thick, deep sleep.”
Another said she stayed awake after drinking her smoothie and “could feel [Meyden] watching her by his presence as she kept her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep,” the document states. She stayed awake out of fear that Meyden was “going to do something,” the affidavit says.
OREGON NURSE COULD FACE DOZENS OF LAWSUITS FOR SWITCHING FENTANYL DRIPS WITH TAP WATER
The same girl also told police she thought the suspect was “doing tests to make sure we weren’t awake.” He allegedly went into the basement, where the girls were sleeping, multiple times and put his finger under a girl’s nose and moved another girl’s arm and body, as if to make sure they were sleeping. The girl then texted her mother to come pick her up.
Lake Oswego Police (Lake Oswego Police)
“Mom please pick me up and say I had a family emergency,” the girl texted her mother at 1:43 a.m., according to court records. “I don’t feel safe. I might not respond but please come get me (crying emoji), Please. Please pick up. Please. PLEASE!!”
The victims’ parents showed up at Meyden’s home around 3 a.m. to pick up their children. He allegedly resisted initially and told them to come back in the morning, but the parents insisted.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
One victim’s mother brought her to a hospital because she needed assistance walking and kept asking “what happened,” police said. When officers spoke to her less than 12 hours after she drank the smoothie, they said she “walked slowly and used the assistance of her mother for balance, her eyelids were heavy, and she spoke slowly,” according to the affidavit.
Meyden pleaded not guilty on Feb. 28 and posted $500,000 bond.
Fox News’ Landon Mion contributed to this report.
