Drake Bell maintains innocence in child endangerment case, says he pleaded guilty due to finances

Drake Bell is maintaining his innocence after he pleaded guilty in 2021 to child endangerment charges.

Bell appeared on an episode of DearMedia's "Not Skinny But Not Fat" podcast Tuesday where he discussed the aftermath of opening up about sexual abuse he faced as a minor by Nickelodeon voice coach Brian Peck in the "Quiet on Set" docuseries and the fallout after he was accused of sexual contact and grooming an underage fan.

“I’d responded on some DMs and was incredibly irresponsible, and got myself into conversations that I shouldn’t have had, and I ended up finding out that I was talking to someone that I shouldn’t have been talking to, and it snowballed into these allegations that were not true, and it just turned into this big thing,” Bell said of the 2021 case.

The victim alleged Bell began grooming her when she was 12 and that by the time she was 15, Bell was exchanging explicit photos online and engaged in sexual contact.

"I was being investigated, and that was really difficult on my family, and thankfully through 18 months of subpoenaing my social media and computers and witnesses and everything, it turned out a lot of most of what was being accused of me was not true."

The singer and actor said he "cut communications" the moment he found out her age. "I think she got upset, and she was coming to concerts still, and I was doing everything I could to kind of keep my distance."

"Then she made all these allegations of things that happened at a concert, but throughout the investigation, there were witnesses who were there the whole time who refuted it, people who weren’t even connected with me that were friends of hers and her family’s that were there the whole time, and so, no … a lot of the things that she said about sending inappropriate pictures and things like this, it was able to be investigated and show that none of that existed," he claimed.

The "Drake & Josh" star admits that the conversation was inappropriate, but said he only pleaded guilty "because I just financially was just devastated, and I’d just had a son, and I didn’t wanna put my family through all of this anymore, so I ended up going through the process the way that I did."

Bell shares a son with his estranged wife Janet Von Schmeling. Schmeling filed for divorce from Bell in 2023 after they married in 2018, according to People.

What did the victim say happened in Drake Bell's child endangerment case?

In 2021, the victim in Bell's case spoke at length in court about the damage the actor had done to her life, saying he began grooming her when she was 12. She said she initially felt loved and protected by him during online chats and that his messages became "blatantly sexual" after she turned 15. She said his remarks made her feel uncomfortable, but she felt trapped because she "idolized" Bell.

He was sentenced to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service in Cleveland court in July 2021.

Bell spoke out about his conviction in a video posted on Instagram in September 2021, calling the allegations that he sent sexually explicit photos were "entirely false and wrong" and said he accepted a plea deal to resolve the matter "quickly."

Drake Bell says he went to rehab amid 'Quiet on Set,' discusses Brian Peck support letters

In the video, the former Nickelodeon star acknowledged his interactions were "reckless and irresponsible," but he claimed he was "unaware" of her age and only communicated with her via text messages — without any physical contact.

In "Quiet on Set," Bell described experiencing a "slow decline" in his mental health and sobriety and said he was "absolutely destroyed" by "misinformation" that was spread about his child endangerment case. "I started to spin out of control," he said. "If I had continued down that path, that could very likely be the end of my story."

Bell also said he was devastated when he filed for bankruptcy in 2014 and lost his house.

Drake Bell opened up about Brian Peck sexual abuse in 'Quiet on Set' docuseries

Bell, who starred in Nickelodeon's "The Amanda Show" from 1999 to 2002 and "Drake & Josh" as the titular character from 2004 to 2007, alleged in the recent docuseries that he faced "extensive" sexual abuse by Peck as a minor. Peck was arrested in August 2003 and convicted in 2004 on charges of lewd acts with a child that stemmed from a 2001 incident. Bell had not previously disclosed himself as the plaintiff in that case.

"The abuse was extensive, and it got pretty brutal. I really don't know how to elaborate on that on camera," Bell said in the docuseries. "Why don't you do this: Why don't you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and that will answer your question. It was not a one-time thing."

Bell said this traumatic period of his life led him to engage in "a lot of self-destruction," including alcohol and substance abuse.

"While it is often true that males who are sexual offenders often have a history of having been a victim of sexual assault themselves, most male victims do NOT become sexual offenders," Men Healing notes in its FAQ section.

If you or someone you know has experienced sexual violence, RAINN’s National Sexual Assault Hotline offers free, confidential, 24/7 support to survivors and their loved ones in English and Spanish at: 800.656.HOPE (4673) and Hotline.RAINN.org and en Espa?ol RAINN.org/es.

MenHealing provides resources and services for adult males who have been sexually victimized during childhood or as adults. You can visit their website for more information or follow MenHealing on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. 

Contributing: Brendan Morrow, Jenna Ryu, Edward Segarra, Charles Trepany, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drake Bell explains child endangerment guilty plea