Drake Bell Pleads Guilty To Felony Endangerment, Could Face Prison Time
Jared Drake Bell, who fans will know from the hit Nickelodeon series Drake and Josh, pleaded [...]
Jared Drake Bell, who fans will know from the hit Nickelodeon series Drake and Josh, pleaded guilty to two charges regarding an incident in 2017. Bell entered a guilty plea in regards to a charge of attempted child endangerment and a charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, and sentencing is set to take place in July (via Cleveland 19). According to the initial report, the incident took place at the Odeon Concert Club, where a 15-year-old girl attended Bell's event at the club after already developing a relationship prior to attending the show. Later she would file a complaint with the Canadian police, where according to authorities Bell "violated his duty of care".
According to authorities Bell had been sending inappropriate messages to her on social media, and that had been going on for months. The incident took place in December of 2017 at the Cleveland venue, but she reported it to her local police in Canada in October of 2018, and the police say while she was at the event Bell created a risk of harm to the victim.
Bell appeared in court via Zoom for the plea hearing, and the judge did reveal that jail time is not mandatory but is possible. Bell then pleaded guilty to both charges, and we won't know sentencing until next month.
There are still quite a few details not known at this time, like what the relationship consisted of and how long the messages were being sent and exactly what they were. We also don't know what the details of the plea deal are (if that is in fact the case), but things will become clearer most likely in July at sentencing. The identity of the victim is also now known at this time.
Bell is most well known for his role as Drake Parker in Drake & Josh, which ran from 2004 to 2007. The show was a huge hit, and after it ended Bell would go onto do quite a bit of voice work, especially in the Marvel universe. Bell voiced Spider-Man several times, including in The Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, Marvel Heroes, Avengers Assemble, Hulk and the Agents of S.M.A.S.H., and Ultimate Spider-Man.
There had also been talk of a possible revival of Drake & Josh with Josh Peck, but nothing new had been reported over the past year on the project.