Former Nickelodeon Star Drake Bell Pleads Guilty to Child Endangerment Charge
Drake Bell, who played Drake in the hit Nickelodeon series Drake & Josh, pleaded guilty to charges relating to a teenaged girl who attended one of his concerts in December 2017.
On Wednesday, Bell appeared virtually at a pretrial hearing in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court under his legal name Jared Bell — pleading guilty to felony attempted child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. His sentencing is scheduled for July 12 in Cleveland.
Bell allegedly engaged in a sexual and inappropriate conversation with a 15-yeard-old on December 1, 2017 — the same day he was scheduled to play at Ohio venue The Odeon.
Bell previously pleaded not guilty to the charges earlier this month and was released on a $2,500 bond after appearing in Cuyahoga County court on June 3, yet agreed to have no contact with the alleged victim.
The former child star has since pleaded guilty, and now faces a sentence ranging from probation to two years in prison, as well as a potential fine of up to $5,000, for the child endangerment charge. The second charge carries up to six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000.
“My understanding is there’s been a plea agreement reached where the defendant will plead guilty to count one attempted endangering children, a felony in the fourth degree [and] plead guilty to count two: disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a misdemeanor the first degree,” said Judge Timothy McCormick during the pretrial on Wednesday.
Tyler Sinclair, a spokesperson for the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, had previously said that the teenaged girl contacted Toronto police in October 2018 regarding the incident. Toronto authorities then contacted Cleveland police, which prompted an investigation.
Sinclair claimed Bell “violated his duty of care,” creating potential harm to the teenager, yet did not elaborate further. Sinclair also revealed that Bell had developed an online relationship with the teenager several years before the concert, allegedly sending her “inappropriate social media messages.”
Watch the Zoom hearing above, via WKYC’s YouTube channel.
