Lake Oswego dad faces $2.4 million suit after prison sentence for drugging drinks at daughter's sleepover

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Lake Oswego father who was sentenced to prison in June for drugging drinks he served during his daughter's sleepover is facing a new lawsuit from one of the girls and her father.

The lawsuit, which was first reported by The Oregonian, was filed in Clackamas County on Tuesday against the father, Michael Meyden, and Yukiko Meyden, his ex-wife, according to court documents.

The civil lawsuit seeks $2.4 million in damages for alleged battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress.

This lawsuit comes after Meyden was sentenced to two years in prison after agreeing to three felony charges of causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, while lesser charges of applying a controlled substance to the body of a minor and delivery of a controlled substance to a minor were dropped.

The incident happened in late August 2023, when Meyden was supervising his pre-teen daughter's sleepover and encouraged four 12-year-old girls to drink mango smoothies before they went to bed.

As reported by the Associated Press, Meyden planned the sleepover, but the girls didn't go to bed at 11 p.m. as he wanted so they could be well rested for the next day. He also wanted them to go to bed so he could get some sleep.

According to court documents, Meyden laced the smoothies with Temazepam, a Schedule IV controlled substance that is prescribed for insomnia and has a sedative effect.

Some of the girls noticed a white power in their drinks but still drank the smoothies because Meyden pushed them to do so, court documents stated.

According to the records, one girl who consumed just a small amount of the smoothie -- because she “did not like mangos” — pretended to be asleep because she felt unsafe. Another girl drank two smoothies.

Meyden was also accused of checking to confirm whether the girls were asleep later that night, with court documents saying he put his finger under one girl's nose to see if she was asleep and moved the girl who had consumed two smoothies away from the one who barely drank.

The affidavit showed one girl texted her mother later that night, pleading to be picked up. All three of the girls were eventually picked up from Meyden’s residence and a test conducted at a children’s hospital found they were exposed to Temazepam.

Meyden admitted to making the smoothies but denied adding any drugs to them. However, a lab test determined there was Temazepam on the straws. Investigators also found dozens of bottles of the drugs in the defendant’s house, each of which had been prescribed to him.

Yukiko Meyden could not be reached for comment, and it is not clear if Michael Meyden retained an attorney for this case. This story will be updated if KOIN 6 receives a response.