Drake Bell Sentencing Revealed After Pleading Guilty to Child Endangerment Felony

On June 23, Drake Bell pleaded guilty to one count of attempting endangering children and one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles. The first count would be considered a fourth-degree felony while the latter count is a first-degree misdemeanor. Weeks after he pleaded guilty to those counts, Bell's sentencing has been revealed. According to E! News, the actor was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service in Cleveland court.

Bell was originally arrested back on June 3 by the Cleveland Division of Police. At the time, the former Nickelodeon star was charged with both of the aforementioned counts. Bell, whose legal name is Jared "Drake" Bell, was released after posting $2,500 in personal bond. He initially entered not guilty pleas for both of those charges. The former Drake & Josh star was arrested after a 15-year-old girl filed a report with her local police department in Canada in October 2018 and alleged that she encountered an inappropriate incident with Bell in a Cleveland nightclub.

Bell was promptly investigated, per Tyler Sinclair, the Cuyahoga Prosecutor's Office's Public Information Officer. Their investigation concluded that the 15-year-old girl attended one of Bell's concerts in December 2017. At that concert, Bell allegedly "violated his duty of care" and thus "created a risk of harm" to her. Sinclair added that their investigation also found that Bell had sent the individual "inappropriate social media messages" in the months before the concert and that the teenager "had established a relationship with Bell several years prior."

Bell later changed his plea to guilty for both counts. He informed the court of his decision during the June 23 hearing. A judge said during the virtual hearing, "My understanding is there's been a plea agreement reached where the defendant will plead guilty to count one attempted endangering children, a felony in the fourth degree [and] plead guilty to count two: disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a misdemeanor the first degree." Both Bell and his attorney agreed.

The judge then informed Bell that these charges could carry a significant amount of jail time and fines. They explained, "However, if you go to prison, upon your release, you could be subjected to a discretionary period of three years post-release control. Post-release control could involve restrictions on your activities. If you were to violate those restrictions, you can be returned to prison, [for] up to a maximum of one-half of your original sentence." About three weeks after that hearing, Bell was sentenced to two years probation and 200 hours of community service after pleading guilty to those two charges.