The man who spiked his daughter's friend's smoothies while they were sleeping over has been sentenced to two years in prison.
57-year-old Michael Meyden, from Oregon, was arrested following accusations that he had spiked his 12-year-old daughter's friends' smoothies at a sleepover.
It's believed he'd used benzodiazepine, a depressant that slows the nervous system as a means of drugging the girls at his home in Lake Oswego on August 26 last year.
According to police affidavit, Meyden made repeated trips down to the basement where the girls slept and did 'tests' to see if they were asleep.
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After drinking them, one of the girls complained of feeling 'woozy, hot and clumsy' and another of the girls ended up texting her mother just before 2 am, pleading for her to come pick her up as she felt unsafe.
He turned himself into authorities in late February, but pleaded not guilty to the charges he faced, which include causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, the Lake Oswego Police Department said.
According to court documents, Meyden changed his plea to guilty and has now been sentenced to two years in prison.
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He will also receive three years of post-prison supervision, with prosecutors adding that the charges that were dropped wouldn't lead to an extended sentence.
On Monday (June 10), he pleaded guilt in Clackamas County Circuit Court on three counts of causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, said prosecutors and one of his attorneys, Jeff Turnoy.
As per The Independent, he apologized during his sentencing, telling the court: "My whole life is destroyed. Everything that was important to me up until that point is gone."
He said that the girls didn't go to bed by 11pm like he'd planned, and wanted to make sure they were fully rested for the next day - and that he would be able to go to bed too.
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In court, two of the mothers addressed Meyden for his crimes and both pleaded for the maximum sentence of four years and a half years, KFYRTV reports.
One of the mothers said: “I have cried and I have raged all while doing my best to wrap my daughter in all the love and support I can possibly give her to help her heal from what you did. Look at me.”
“No decent parent puts their hands on drugged and unconscious young girls without nefarious intent. Do not for one second think I do not know who and what you are.
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Three of the victims involved also issued statements and condemned Meyden.
One 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.”
While another called him 'horrible', adding: "You are a rotten old man who did this to children.”
Gerrard Kaonga