Ex-child actor Drake Bell accused of child endangerment
One of stars of the popular Nickelodeon children's show “Drake & Josh” faces criminal charges regarding a girl he had met online and attended a 2017 concert of his in Cleveland when she was 15
One of the stars of the popular Nickelodeon children's show "Drake & Josh" faces criminal charges in relation to a girl he met online and who attended his 2017 concert in Ohio when he was 15 .
Jared "Drake" Bell, 34, pleaded not guilty Thursday in a Cleveland courtroom to misdemeanor charges of attempting to endanger children and transmitting a case harmful to teenagers.
"All the facts will come out in a courtroom," Bell's attorney Ian Friedman said Friday, refusing to comment further.
Bell was charged by information, which usually indicates that a plea agreement has been reached. He is to appear before the judge on June 23.
Tyler Sinclair, a spokesman for Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O'Malley, said the girl filed a complaint with Canadian police in October 2018. The police there contacted Cleveland Police to investigate.
The attempt to endanger the children is related to the concert, Sinclair said, where Bell "violated his duty of care" and posed a risk of harm to the victim. He did not elaborate further.
Sinclair said that Bell and the girl had "developed a relationship" online several years before the concert. Sinclair said the proliferation of harmful content charges Bell sent "inappropriate social media messages" to the girl.
Bell, also a singer, began acting as a child, but was propelled to stardom as a teenager with Nickelodeon's "The Amanda Show" and later "Drake & Josh", which released in January 2004. I started on the channel. The final episode aired in September. 2007. Bell and co-star Josh Beck also starred in two "Drake and Josh" films.