Former Nickelodeon star Drake Bell has pleaded not guilty to two counts of crimes against children at a court in Ohio, USA.
As reported by 7News, Bell, who rose to fame on the TV show Drake and Josh, is charged with one count of attempted child endangerment and one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
According to 7News, the court docket lists the offence date as December 1st, 2017.
Last week, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office revealed that a 15-year-old female alleged victim filed a report with her local police department in Canada in October 2018.
The unnamed victim said the incident happened between her and Bell at Cleveland nightclub during the previous year.
“(An) investigation revealed that the victim, who had established a relationship with Bell several years prior, attended his concert in December 2017,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.
“While there, Bell violated his duty of care and, in doing so, created a risk of harm to the victim. The investigation also revealed that months leading up to the concert, Bell sent the victim inappropriate social media messages.”
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At a hearing on Thursday, Bell was released on a USD $2,500 bond and ordered to appear in court again on Wednesday, 23rd for a pre-trial hearing.
Meanwhile, Bell’s attorney Ian Friedman has declined requests from the media to comment on the case.
While Bell himself has been active on social media over the last week, he has also yet to publicly comment on the charges.
The actor and musician starred in four reasons of Drake and Josh during the mid-2000s, alongside Josh Peck.
More recently, he released his latest album Sesiones En Casa in October last year.
You can read more about this topic over at the Film & TV Observer.
