Drake Bell Says He Spotted Brian Peck Out with Underage Children Since Prison Release
Brian Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison and was mandated to register as a sex offender for sexually abusing Bell when Bell was child actor at Nickelodeon
Drake Bell is speaking out about a time when he saw his sexual abuser and former dialogue coach, Brian Peck, out in public after his prison sentence.
The actor and musician, 37, who for the first time publicly detailed the sexual abuse he endured as a child actor at the hands of Peck in the Investigation Discovery docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, explained in a March 24 episode of the show La Entrevista con Yordi Rosado, that he was shocked at how Peck continued working in Hollywood after he was sentenced to 16 months in prison.
“I remember one time I saw him at a restaurant and he was at the table with like 10 or 12 actors, all male actors between the ages of 14 and 16, and I walked in and saw him,” Bell recalls. “I saw that he was right back to what he was doing and I turned around and left.”
In 2004, Peck pleaded no contest to a charge of oral copulation with a minor under 16 as well as a charge of performing a lewd act with a 14- or 15-year-old. In addition to his 16-month sentence, Peck was mandated to register as a sex offender. Bell's identity as the victim was not made public at the time since he was a minor.
“And he was sentenced to 16 months in prison, and I think only of which he served maybe 4, and when he got out, he was a registered sex offender for crimes against a child, and he went right back to work,” Bell adds.
After serving his sentence, Peck was released from prison in 2005. A year later, he was hired by Disney Channel to work on The Suite Life of Zack & Cody starring Dylan and Cole Sprouse, where he did voiceover work for three episodes but had no interaction with the cast or crew on set, per Variety. The outlet reports that he was immediately terminated after Disney Channel learned of his conviction and his voiceovers were replaced.
Related: Where Is Brian Peck Now? All About His Sexual Assault Case and Prison Sentence
In the docuseries, which premiered over two nights on March 17 and March 18, Bell said he was repeatedly molested by Peck (no relation to Bell's co-star Josh Peck) when Bell was 15. The two had met in 2000 during the second season of Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show, where Peck befriended Bell and would invite him to his house for acting lessons.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I usually sleep and I woke up to him... I opened my eyes and I woke up and he was…he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell recalls in the docuseries. “And I froze, and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react.”
In a statement to PEOPLE, Nickelodeon said, "Now that Drake Bell has disclosed his identity as the plaintiff in the 2004 case, we are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward."
It was also revealed in the docuseries that several actors and other Hollywood stars — including James Marsden and Boy Meets World alums Will Friedle and Rider Strong — wrote letters of support for Peck when he was set to be sentenced in 2004 for sexually abusing Bell. It’s not clear how much about the charges those who spoke out in support of Peck knew at the time. (Strong and Friedle previously addressed the letters and their appearances at the sentencing hearing on their podcast, Pod Meets World. )
Related: James Marsden and Other Stars Wrote Letters of Support for Convicted Child Molester Brian Peck
In the interview with Rosado, Bell said he “didn’t know these letters existed until this documentary,” and that he was shocked at how full Peck's side of the courtroom was.
“I looked at all of them [during my statement] and I just said, ‘How dare you. You will forever have the memory of sitting in this courtroom and defending this person,” Bell says in the docuseries.
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
Bell claimed in the interview with Rosado that he hasn’t heard from those named in the docuseries as having written letters of support for Peck.
“One person who wrote the letters made a public apology. Everyone else, no apologies,” he says. “Some people have tried to get ahead of the story and say ‘Oh, we were manipulated, we didn’t understand what was going on at the time, he told us something different.’ But it’s very interesting that they didn’t say that until they knew that the letters were about to be released.”
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV is currently streaming on Max.
If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.
For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on People.