Michael Meyden accused of drugging his 12-year-old daughter's friends with benzo-laced smoothies had a 'creepy obsession' with kids for years, coworkers reveal

Co-workers of the Oregon human resources manager accused of drugging his daughter's pre-teen friends with spiked smoothies at a sleepover say he has shown 'creepy' behavior in the past. 

Michael Meyden, 57, was released on $50,000 bail in March after being charged with multiple felonies when the 12-year-olds tested positive for benzodiazepines in hospital.

Now, his co-workers are speaking out about Meyden, saying his interest in their children would make them uncomfortable.

One colleague said: 'He always wanted to know about our families. He'd ask about my kids, how old they are, what extracurriculars they liked. Then he'd tell me what his kids were up to. It seemed really innocent at the time.'

However, the unnamed co-worker began to see the supposed sinister side, with Meyden going as far as 'liking' his daughter's cheerleading photos on Facebook.

Co-workers of the Oregon human resources manager accused of drugging his daughter's pre-teen friends with spiked smoothies at a sleepover say he has shown 'creepy' behavior in the past 

Michael Meyden, 57, was released on $50,000 bail in March after being charged with multiple felonies when the 12-year-olds tested positive for benzodiazepines in hospital. Pictured: Meyden at his 2008 wedding to wife Yukiko Ishida, the couple filed for divorce in October 

'He would ask questions about her, he knew my kids names and ages. He kept track of that stuff. I thought he was just being nice.' 

Meyden even had a reputation around his office for being happy and jovial and interested in everyone, according to the New York Post. 

In March, he was arrested on the allegations of drugging the pre-teens at a sleepover.

One terrified girl who had refused the smoothies desperately tried to keep her unconscious friends safe from assault at the party in August, a court has heard.

She sent a series of frantic text messages pleading for rescue as Meyden allegedly prowled the home in Lake Oswego, Oregon, to see if the tranquilizers had taken effect.

'Mom please pick me up and say I had a family emergency,' I don't feel safe,' she wrote as Meyden returned upstairs briefly.

Meyden pictured in the search warrant for his $1.3million home in Lake Oswego, Oregon, where is alleged to have drugged his daughter's friends

Meyden and his wife Yukiko Ishida-Meyer shared the $1.3million home in Lake Oswego but filed for divorce in October last year and his current address is listed as an RV park in Vancouver

'I might not respond but please come get me. Please. Please pick up. Please. PLEASE!!'

Meyden’s now deleted LinkedIn profile identifies him as an Arizona State University graduate who worked for energy company Avangrid.

He and his wife Yukiko Ishida-Meyer shared the $1.3million home in Lake Oswego, Oregon, but filed for divorce in October last year and his current address is listed as an RV park in Vancouver.

The three girls had joined Meyden's daughter for the 'spa night' sleepover at his home on August 26.

Meyden was 'highly involved' in the event taking them out to get their nails done and picking up pizza for their dinner, according to the affidavit.

Before going to bed, Meyden allegedly made them two smoothies each and 'insisted' they drink them.

'Mr. Meyden specifically gave each of the girls specific colored reusable straws to distinguish their own drink,' the probable cause affidavit claims.

'Mr. Meyden was adamant that the girls drink out of their own cups.'

Meyden in a picture from his now deleted LinkedIn profile 

One girl drank both her smoothies, and another girl drank one glass, but the third said she did not like the smoothies and barely drank any at all, police say.

Authorities claim that one of the girls said that the drinks appeared to have 'tiny white chunks;' in them and that Meyden's own daughter appeared to have drunk a significant amount.

The girls then retired to the basement where two slept in a bedroom and the others on a pull-out couch.

The only undrugged girl remained awake and saw Meyden allegedly come into the basement and pull the heavily drugged girl away from her.

When he disappeared upstairs, the girl pulled her unconscious friend back next to her only to find Meyden return and pull her away again, the affidavit says.

'He put his finger underneath the nose of the awake girl 'as if to see if she was soundly asleep, he then waved his hand in front of her face,' she told police.

As Meyden allegedly retreated, she began calling and texting her parents and was eventually able to reach a family friend, who picked her up and took her to her home.

As word spread the parents of the other two girls arrived to retrieve their daughters at 3am, but Meyden was allegedly reluctant to let them in, telling them their children were asleep.

He surrendered at the Clackamas County Jail in March and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing on Wednesday before being released on $50,000 bail

The parents took the girls to Randall Children's Hospital where they tested positive for benzodiazepines, tranquilizers more usually used to calm anxiety or as a sleeping aid.

The girl who drank two smoothies told police she began to feel woozy, hot and clumsy, shortly after finishing the second.

She then 'blacked out' and fell into a 'thick, deep sleep' unlike any she had previously known, the affidavit says.

Meyden has been charged with three felony counts of causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, three felony counts of applying a schedule IV controlled substance to the body of a minor and three misdemeanor counts of delivering to a minor a schedule IV controlled substance.

He surrendered at the Clackamas County Jail in March and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment hearing on Wednesday before being released on $50,000 bail.

'Mr. Meyden is presumed innocent,' his attorney Mark Cogan said.

'We have not seen the evidence. The indictment was issued by a grand jury behind closed doors where no judge, no defense attorney, was allowed.

'And we hope that people will reserve judgment until all the facts are known.'