An Ohio judge on Monday sentenced former Nickelodeon star Jared “Drake” Bell to two years of probation on charges involving a teenager who accused him of “grooming” her beginning when she was 12 years old.
Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Timothy McCormick also ordered Bell, 35, to serve 200 hours of community service following his guilty plea last month on a felony charge of attempted child endangerment and a misdemeanor charge of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
“I accept this plea because my conduct was wrong,” Bell said Monday in court via Zoom. “I’m sorry that the victim was harmed in any way.”
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Earlier Monday, the victim described Bell as a “monster and a danger to children” while reading a statement in court.
“He was such a huge part of my childhood, and in return, he ruined my life,” she said.
The victim said she met Bell when she was 12 after a family member learned that they had a mutual friend.
“I was definitely one of his biggest fans,” she said. “Everyone who knew me as a child knew he was a hero to me. I would have done anything for him.”
The victim said that she and Bell began to exchange explicit photos online and that he later engaged in sexual conduct with her on several occasions, including at a concert venue in Cleveland and at a hotel. She called Bell a “coward” and a “pedophile.”
“He was calculating,” she said. “I idolized and looked up to him, and he took that and broke it in the most sickening way possible. He is the epitome of evil.”
Bell’s attorney, Ian Friedman, disputed those claims, saying there were no explicit photos or sexual contact between Bell and the victim, and the inappropriate conduct that did occur was reflected in the charges Bell pleaded to last month. Friedman did not detail the inappropriate conduct Bell was acknowledging.
Before delivering his sentence Monday, McCormick noted that the allegations shared in court were “serious and disturbing,” but he added that he could not “lose focus on the fact as to what he pled to.” He noted that Bell “did not plead to sexual misconduct or engaging in sexual relations, he pled to attempted endangering children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.”
“The fact of the matter is, your position and celebrity status enabled you to nurture this relationship,” the judge said. “You were able to gain access to this child and you were able to gain the trust of this child.”
Bell, also a singer, began acting as a child, but was catapulted to stardom as a teen with Nickelodeon’s “The Amanda Show” and later “Drake & Josh,” which debuted on the channel in January 2004. The final episode aired in September 2007. Bell and co-star Josh Peck also starred in two “Drake & Josh” movies.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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