Nickelodeon veteran Drake Bell has opened up about being sexually assaulted during his time with the children's entertainment network.
Bell openly discussed his assault at age 15 by fellow Nickelodeon talent and dialogue coach Brian Peck in the upcoming Investigation Discovery (ID) documentary on the children's network, Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.
In 2003, Peck was arrested on 11 charges, including sodomy, lewd act on a child of 14 or 15 by a person 10 years or older, and oral copulation through anesthesia or controlled substance. Peck was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender after pleading no contest.
The victim of Peck's assault was not known at the time, though Bell revealed during the documentary's filming that he was the child involved in the crimes that led Peck's arrest.
According to the former child star, Bell occasionally stayed at Peck's house because the dialogue actor lived closer to auditions than his parents. Bell discussed his first sexual assault by Peck while he was at the dialogue coach's house after sleeping over.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep. I woke up to him — I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me," Bell said. "I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react, and I have no idea how to get out of this situation."
Bell, who said the assault had become a "secret" he hid from friends and family, added he remembered Peck being "apologetic" about the assault and promised it would not happen again.
“He figured out how to convince my mom and everyone around to, anytime I would have an audition or anytime I needed to work on dialogue or anything, I somehow ended up back at Brian’s house and it just got worse and worse and worse and worse," Bell continued. "I was just trapped. I had no way out."
The former child star referred to his sexual assault by Peck as "extensive" and "pretty brutal."
"I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera, really," Bell said during his interview with the documentary's producers. "Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it.”
Peck was reportedly described as a "touchy-feely guy," after Bell's father Joe expressed discomfort with Peck's presence around his son. Nickelodeon producers referred to Bell's father's concerns of Peck as "homophobic" as Peck was a gay man, according to Joe.
Fellow Nickelodeon veteran Kyle Sullivan, also featured in the upcoming documentary, said Peck had an autographed clown poster in his garage, which the dialogue coach claimed was given to him by Chicago-based serial killer and sex offender John Wayne Gacy. Peck also shared a letter he received from Gacy with other child actors, according to Sullivan.
“Your instinct is to give someone the benefit of the doubt if you’ve known them for that long, even in the face of this really bad sign,” Sullivan said. “This man, who is like trusted as basically a supervisor of kids, is not safe.”
A spokesperson for Nickelodeon provided a statement to Variety addressing content discussed in the documentary.
“Though we cannot corroborate or negate allegations of behaviors from productions decades ago, Nickelodeon as a matter of policy investigates all formal complaints as part of our commitment to fostering a safe and professional workplace environment free of harassment or other kinds of inappropriate conduct,” the statement read. “Our highest priorities are the well-being and best interests not just of our employees, casts and crew, but of all children, and we have adopted numerous safeguards over the years to help ensure we are living up to our own high standards and the expectations of our audience.”
“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," Nickelodeon's statement concluded.
Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV premieres on Max on March 17.
