Just a few weeks after pleading guilty to attempted child endangerment and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, actor and musician Drake Bell of Drake & Josh fame was given two years of probation and a suspended one-year jail sentence in a Cleveland courtroom on Monday.
The Associated Press reports Bell, 35, appeared for the sentencing via Zoom in Cuyahoga County Common Pleas courtroom with Judge Timothy McCormick. The charges carried a possible prison term of up to two years, though prison was not mandatory.
“Today I accept this plea because my conduct was wrong. I’m sorry that the victim was harmed in any way—that was obviously not my intention,” Bell said. “I have taken this matter very very seriously, and again I just want to apologize to her and anyone else who may have been affected by my actions.”
The judge said Bell’s sentencing was based solely on the two counts of the guilty plea agreement: one count of attempted child endangering (a fourth-degree felony), to which Bell was sentenced to one year, and one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles (a first-degree misdemeanor), to which Bell was given a six-month sentence. The sentences were to run concurrently.
The sentencing hearing began with a statement from the victim.
“He was calculating, he preyed on me and he sexually abused me. He is a monster and a danger to children. … My suffering is not for him to brag about or use as leverage about how he’s become a good person now that he’s a father,” the woman, now 19, said.
She also stated, “The pain that the defendant has caused me is indescribable, and it worsens every day. Being used by somebody who meant the world to me has left me feeling more hurt than I have ever been before. … My life hasn’t been the same since I was 15. I think about these crimes every single day. I feel like I’m in a constant dark place. Sometimes I wish I could disappear so I can forget about what happened.”
Bell’s lawyer, Ian Friedman, told NBC News in a statement Monday that his guilty plea and sentence “reflect conduct for which Mr. Bell did accept responsibility.”
“The victim’s allegations that went beyond that which all parties agreed, not only lack supporting evidence but are contradicted by the facts learned through extensive investigation,” Friedman said. “As the court made clear, this plea was never about sexual misconduct or sexual relations with any person, let alone a minor.”
Back in June, Bell pleaded guilty to one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and one count of attempted endangering children. He posted a $2,500 bond and was released from the Cuyahoga County Jail on June 3 after being arrested in Cleveland.
