Actor Jared Bell, who played Drake on the hit Nickelodeon series Drake and Josh, is facing charges in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, for allegedly spreading harmful material to juveniles and endangering minors. According to Fox 8 News, Jared Bell, 34, entered a not guilty plea and waived the reading of the indictment. Although the exact date of his arrest is unknown, the actor pleaded “not guilty” and secured a $2,500 personal bond. The date for the pretrial hearing has been set for June 23.
The alleged incident occurred on December 1, 2017, according to Fox 8, however the nature of the alleged crime was not disclosed. Bell was last seen in Cuyahoga County court on Thursday. Bell filed for bankruptcy in 2014, stating that he owed $581,000 at the time. Drake and Josh aired on Nickelodeon, which is owned by ViacomCBS, for four seasons beginning in 2004. After the show finished, Bell went on to play Peter Parker in Disney XD’s Ultimate Spider-Man animated series and is now known as Drake Campana, a singer-songwriter.
Bell is the most recent in a long line of Nickelodeon stars to get into legal issues or become entangled in personal controversies. Actor Cody Longo from the TV show Hollywood Heights was arrested for domestic assault last year. Dan Schneider produced a number of popular Nickelodeon shows in the ’90s, 2000s, and 2010s, but he and Nickelodeon parted ways in 2018 after rumors of abuse complaints against Schneider, though the official story is that it was a natural time to end their partnership. Many fans have pointed out a sexualization of young girls in Schneider’s shows, particularly having to do with feet.
