CLACKAMAS COUNTY, OR - An Oregon father who was accused of drugging a group of preteen girls by serving smoothies laced with a prescription sedative has settled a multi-million dollar legal battle, Law & Crime reports.
Michael Meyden, 58, and his ex-wife settled a civil lawsuit filed by the father of one of the victims. The amount of the settlement was not disclosed; however, future proceedings in the case have been dismissed.
The plaintiffs filed suit in November 2024 and were seeking $2.4 million based on claims of intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and battery. Earlier that year, Meyden pleaded guilty to three felony counts of causing another person to ingest a controlled substance and was sentenced to serve two years in state prison.
In a previous piece, Law & Crime reported that the sleepover took place on Aug. 23, 2023, at Meyden’s home in Lake Oswego, Oregon. It was alleged that Meyden, via his 12-year-old daughter, invited the plaintiff and two other minor females to his residence.
During the sleepover, Meyden made mango smoothies for the girls and “insisted that [the] plaintiffs and the other minor children ingest the smoothie he prepared,” the document stated.
Meyden admitted that he had spiked the smoothies with Temazepam, a Schedule IV controlled substance used to treat insomnia, the outlet reported.
“Soon after drinking the smoothie prepared by defendant Michael Meyden, plaintiff and two other minor children became tired and fell asleep. One of the minor children had, unbeknownst to defendant Michael Meyden, not ingested the smoothie,” the complaint stated. “That child observed defendant Michael Meyden acting oddly and in a manner that was concerning to them. That child also observed that one of the other children seemed very ill.”
The child who hadn’t drunk the smoothie called and texted her parents and family friends to come pick her up.
“Mom, please pick me up and say [we] had [a] family emergency,” one text sent at 2 a.m. reportedly read. “[D]on’t feel safe. Might not respond, but please come get me [crying emoji], Please. Please pick up. Please. PLEASE!”
After the child was picked up by a family friend and dropped off at home, the girl’s parents went back to Meyden’s home, retrieved the other two girls, and brought them to the hospital. Both tested positive for benzodiazepines. One of the girls was speaking slowly and told police that after drinking the smoothie, she became “woozy, hot, and clumsy” before falling into a “thick, deep sleep.”
That girl told police that shortly after the other kids went to the basement to sleep, she heard the suspect enter the basement. She pretended to be asleep and said she saw Meyden move the girl sleeping next to her “toward the opposite side of the bed.”
He then returned a second time and put his finger under the nose of the same young girl, ostensibly to check her breathing before waving a hand in front of her face to ensure she was “soundly asleep.”
During Meyden’s sentencing hearing, one of the victims, recalling the incident, said, “My life has become a living hell because of you and your actions. I want you to think of yourself as the monster you are.”
Another victim also admonished Meyden, telling him, ”You are horrible. You are a rotten old man who did this to children.”
A mother of one of the girls also slammed Meyden, saying, “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.”
Another mother told Meyden, “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 give her to help her heal from what you did. Look at me,” she chastised Meyden, KPTV reported.
“You played Russian roulette with my child’s life,” said one of the mothers.
Meyden attempted to apologize at his hearing, excusing his behavior by claiming that his daughter had tried to sneak out once before and that he was concerned for their safety.
“I deserve that speculation, but I have to tell everyone here I was truly worried about them,” he said. “I just wanted to go to bed, and I wanted to go to bed knowing that they were in their bed.”
He claimed he wanted them to feel “drowsy, not comatose.”
One of the mothers wasn’t buying it.
“Nothing you can say can change what you did and what your intentions were. There is no forgiveness to be had here. You can take that to your grave.”
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