Oregon man who spiked daughter's friends' smoothies with sedatives at sleepover sentenced to two years | US News

Three 12-year-old girls were hospitalized after drinking smoothies containing benzodiazepines, a medication commonly prescribed for anxiety.

A man who drugged three of his daughter's 12-year-old friends with sedatives during a sleepover has been sentenced to two years in prison.

Michael Meyden, 57, from Oregonpleaded guilty to three counts of causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, Sky News' US partner NBC News reported.

The three 12-year-old girls were hospitalized after he laced their bedtime smoothies with benzodiazepine, prescribed for anxiety and also known as Valium, Xanax and Klonopin.

Benzodiazepines are depressants that produce sedation, drowsiness and relaxed mood, according to a probable cause affidavit viewed by NBC.

Meyden's daughter also tested positive for drugs, but he was not accused of drugging her.

The affidavit does not specify why Meyden added sedatives to the smoothies, but according to his attorney, he told the court he did so to ensure the girls fell asleep and did not sneak out of the house “so that they engage in the activities that the family had planned for the next day.”

A “fainted” girl

On the night of the sleepover last August, Meyden was very involved in the girls' activities, taking them to get their nails done and picking up pizza for dinner, according to the affidavit.

The girls spent most of their time in the basement, where they had a “spa party,” the affidavit states.

Before the four girls went to bed, Meyden made them smoothies with different colored straws and was “adamant” that the girls drank from their own cups, he said.

One girl drank two cups, another one one cup, and a third said she didn't like smoothies and hardly drank them at all.

The girl who told police she drank two smoothies said she started feeling dizzy, hot and clumsy shortly after finishing the second smoothie.

She said she “blacked out” and slipped into a “thick, deep sleep” that she had never experienced before, according to the affidavit.

Read more from Sky News:
Airport hit by storm with planes grounded after runway flooded
Man charged after throwing objects at Nigel Farage

“I don’t feel safe”

The girl who didn't drink much smoothie reported that Meyden went down more than once to the basement where they were sleeping and tried to physically separate her from the girl who was sleeping heavily.

The girl frantically began calling and texting her parents and friends to come pick her up.

“Mom, please come pick me up and say I have a family emergency. I don't feel safe. I may not answer, but please come pick me up,” one of the texts said, according to the affidavit. “Please. Please pick up. Please. PLEASE!!”

The girl was able to reach a family friend, who picked her up and took her home. Eventually, two parents went to Meyden's home to pick up the other two girls, the affidavit adds.

Clackamas County Prosecutor John Wentworth said in a statement Tuesday that Meyden deserves time behind bars.

“Meyden’s actions are inexcusable and reckless and require punishment commensurate with the crime,” he said.

“The impact of this event on the child victims, their families and our community has been enormous.”