The former 'Drake and Josh' actor is facing attempted child endangerment charges stemming from a 2017 incident where he was reportedly caught in an inappropriate chat with the alleged victim.
- Jun 5, 2021
AceShowbiz - Actor Drake Bell has pleaded not guilty to allegations of attempted child endangerment.
The former "Drake & Josh" star appeared in a Cuyahoga County court in Ohio on Thursday (03Jun21), when he denied the count and protested his innocence amid additional charges of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
The accusations date back to an incident on 1 December 2017 when Bell was scheduled to perform at a club in Cleveland and, according to local station Fox 8 News, the 34 year old was allegedly caught engaging in an inappropriate chat with the unidentified victim.
He was only indicted last month (May21), and it's unclear when he was arrested.
Following his court appearance, Bell was released on $2,500 (£1,800) bond, and ordered to stay away from his alleged victim.
Representatives for the actor have yet to comment on the legal trouble.
A virtual pre-trial hearing has been set for 23 June.
Last year, the former child actor was called out by a former girlfriend. She posted a TikTok video to detail the alleged abuse she suffered at the hands of the star.
"I started dating Drake when I was sixteen. I was homeschooled, I moved in with him. I was singing," she claimed. "It wasn't until about a year when the verbal abuse started, and when I say verbal abuse, imagine the worst type of verbal abuse you could imagine and that's what I got."
"It then turned to physical - hitting, throwing, everything...At the pinnacle of it, he drug (sic) me down the stairs of our house on Los Feliz. My face hit every step on the way down. I have photos of this."
Drake vehemently denied the accusations, insisting he was never abusive during their relationship. While he admitted they "called each other terrible names" following their breakup, he claimed she "still felt close enough to me just last year that she was comfortable reaching out to ask me to provide her with financial support during a tough time (which I did)."
