Ore. Dad Accused of Drugging Girls at Sleepover Got Divorced from Wife Weeks After Alleged Incident

Michael Meyden pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from accusations he drugged his daughter's friends with benzodiazepine last summer

An Oregon man accused of drugging a group of 12-year-old girls at his daughter’s sleepover last summer got divorced from his wife shortly after the alleged Aug. 25 incident, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Michael Meyden, 57, and his wife divorced last October, less than two months after the alleged incident, according to a divorce judgement obtained by PEOPLE.

The Oregonian reports that Meyden was a former human resources director. He now lives in Vancouver, Wash., according to local KIRO7.

Meyden was indicted last week on nine felony and misdemeanor charges, including causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, the Lake Oswego Police Department said in a news release.

Meyden posted bail, which was set at $50,000, and he pleaded not guilty, according to The Oregonian. Meyden turned himself in to local police last Thursday.

A probable cause affidavit obtained by PEOPLE shows that Meyden is accused of lacing a batch of mango smoothies with benzodiazepine. Meyden then allegedly served the drinks to his daughter’s friends during a sleepover that the girls claim he was “very involved” with throughout the night. Meyden encouraged the girls to drink the smoothies, even remaking one of the drinks after one of the girls complained about the taste, the affidavit alleges.

The affidavit claims that later, when the girls went to bed, one of the girls who secretly did not finish her drink saw Meyden come downstairs and perform tests to see if the girls were sleeping, including putting a finger under one of their noses and waving a hand -

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in front of her face, according to the affidavit.

Mayden made repeated trips to the basement to check on the girls, according to the affidavit.

The girl told police “she could feel him watching her by his presence as she kept her eyes shut, pretending to be asleep,” per the affidavit. The affidavit says that once Meyden left the room, the girl frantically texted her mother at 1:43 a.m. local time:  “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 (crying emoji), Please. Please pick up. Please. PLEASE!!”

Shortly after, the girl’s parents arrived to pick their daughter up and alerted other parents to tell them they should pick their children up as well. Police spoke with the girls at the hospital where they were treated later that morning.

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Police said in the affidavit that officers arrived at the hospital and said one of the 12-year-old girls “walked slowly and used the assistance of her mother for balance, her eyelids were heavy, and she spoke slowly.” Another girl could not walk without assistance when her parents picked her up that night, repeating “what happened,” police said.

Lake Oswego Police later determined that Meyden allegedly “was responsible for the drugs detected in the girls’ bloodstreams,” according to the department.

Meyden’s attorney Mark Cogan told The Oregonian his client “is presumed innocent and we hope that people will reserve judgment until all of the facts and circumstances are known.”

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