Drake Bell is speaking out about his previous court case.
The former Nickelodeon star recently addressed his decision to plead guilty to one count of attempted endangering children and one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles nearly three years ago.
"I responded on some DMs and was incredibly irresponsible and got myself into conversations that I shouldn't have had," Bell, 37, said on the April 2 episode of the podcast Not Skinny But Not Fat. "And I ended up finding out that I was talking to someone 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."
The Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office in Ohio previously told NBC News that a 15-year-old girl filed a report with her local police department in Canada in October 2018 about an alleged incident between her and Bell at a Cleveland nightclub the year before and that the Cleveland Division of Police then conducted an investigation.
"That investigation revealed that the victim, who had established a relationship with Bell several years prior, attended his concert in December 2017," the prosecutor's office continued. "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."
While Bell initially pleaded not guilty in June 2021 to the charges of attempted endangering children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, he then changed his plea to guilty that same month.
"I was being investigated, and that was really difficult on my family," the actor—who appeared on Drake & Josh and The Amanda Show in the ‘90s and aughts—said on Not Skinny But Not Fat. "And thankfully through 18 months of subpoenaing my social media, and phones, and computers and witnesses and everything, it turned out that a lot of most of what was being accused of me wasn't true. But I did have these conversations and so I took responsibility for that and ended up pleading guilty because, just financially, I was just devastated."
Bell—who confirmed that same year he'd welcomed a baby with now-ex Janet Von Schmeling—then added, "I'd just had a son, and I didn't want to put my family through all of this anymore. So I ended up going through the process the way that I did and very regretful."
He also said the teen's allegation of him grooming her—which she made in her victim impact statement—was not true. Bell did confirm he responded to direct messages from her but said he didn't know how old she was at the time.
"Then I finally found out and then I cut communication," the musician continued. "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. And then she made all these allegations of things that had happened at a concert. But throughout the investigation there were witnesses who were there the whole time who refuted it and people who weren't even connected with me that were friends of hers and her family's that were there the whole time."
"A lot of the things that she said about sending inappropriate pictures and things like this," he added, "it was able to be investigated and show that none of that existed."
After pleading guilty, Bell was sentenced in July 2021 to two years of probation and 200 hours of community service, per NBC News.
"Today's plea and sentence reflect conduct for which Mr. Bell did accept responsibility," his attorney Ian N. Friedman told the outlet at the time. "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. As the court made clear, this plea was never about sexual misconduct or sexual relations with any person, let alone a minor."
Bell's podcast interview comes after he shared in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV that he was the unnamed minor in the case that led to the 2004 sexual assault conviction of his former dialogue coach Brian Peck. E! News reached out to Peck for comment but did not hear back.
To read more about the allegations presented in the docuseries, keep reading.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family).