CLEVELAND, OH (CelebrityAccess) — Drake Bell, an actor and musician best known for playing Drake on the hit Nickelodeon TV show “Drake and Josh,” is facing criminal charges alleging inappropriate conduct with a child.
Bell, who is 34, was taken into custody in Cuyahoga County on Thursday and charged with attempted endangering of a child and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, according to court filings.
Bell. whose real name is Jared Drake Bell pleaded not guilty to the charges and was released on Thursday after paying a $2,500 surety bond, the court documents said.
According to local news outlet Fox8, prosecutors alleged that Bell established a relationship with a young fan and communicated with her via social media, sending several inappropriate messages. The fan then was alleged to have attended a 2017 concert in Cleveland where Bell stands accused of violating “his duty of care and, in doing so, created a risk of harm to the victim.”
While the concert venue was not named, Fox8 noted that Bell tweeted in October 2017 that he was scheduled to perform at The Odeon in Cleveland on December 1st of that year. However, the tweet now appears to have been deleted.
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for June 23 via Zoom.
In addition to his role on “Drake & Josh” Bell has starred in Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show and provided voicework for Timmy Turner, the lead character of Nickelodeon’s animated series “The Fairly OddParents” and Peter Parker on Disney XD’s “Ultimate Spider Man.”
He also launched a musical career and released five albums, starting in 2005 with Telegraph but broke through the following year with It’s Only Time, which debuted at #81 on the Billboard 200.
Ian Friedman, an attorney representing Mr. Bell told CelebrityAccess: “All facts will be revealed in the courtroom. There will be no additional comments at this time.”
