Drake Bell told mom about abuse out of fear Brian Peck was hurting more kids
Drake Bell says he told his mother about the sexual abuse he endured from Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck because he feared that the later-convicted child molester might be abusing more kids.
Drake Bell told mom about abuse because he feared Brian Peck was hurting more kids
“I felt that in a certain way, it would be almost on my shoulders if something happened that could’ve been prevented,” the Nickelodeon star said.By Wesley Stenzel
Published on April 12, 2024 06:44PM EDT
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Drake Bell is sharing more details about the abuse he survived from Nickelodeon dialogue coach Brian Peck.
In an interview with mental health podcast Luminosity, the former Drake & Josh star discussed the thought process that led him to tell his mother about the repeated sexual abuse he was enduring as a teenager. “I started to see through everything he was doing,” Bell said of Peck, who was ultimately sentenced to 16 months in prison in 2004 as a result of Bell’s John Doe sexual abuse case against him. “I started to see, Whoa, is he doing this to other people? Are there other kids that he’s working with that this is happening to, and they’re just in the same position as me and aren’t gonna say anything, and are scared and don’t want this to affect their family life, their home life, their professional life, their ability to move forward in this crazy business?”
Drake Bell.
GONZALO MARROQUIN/GETTY
Bell said that reflecting on the possibility of Peck abusing more children at the time or in the future inspired him to open up to his mother. “I think that’s another reason why I felt that I had to tell my mom, that yes, this is what was happening, was because I was so concerned at his behavior with other people, with other young kids like me, that I couldn’t imagine it,” he said. “And I know that it wouldn’t be, but I felt that in a certain way, it would be almost on my shoulders if something happened that could’ve been prevented had I said something sooner. So I was really being tortured with that thought process.”
Bell publicly identified himself as the John Doe in Peck’s case for the first time in Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. In the Investigation Discovery docuseries’ third episode, the actor detailed the “extensive” abuse he faced from Peck while they both worked on The Amanda Show in the early 2000s. Bell said that the turning point of the experience came when he told his mother about Peck’s abuse, which led her to immediately call the police, who eventually used Bell himself to elicit a confession from Peck on a phone call.
Elsewhere in the Luminosity interview, Bell also implied that he feared for his life during certain "very scary" interactions with Peck. “There were moments when I was very terrified," he said. "I mean, he’s got a painting by John Wayne Gacy on his wall, and there’s times when he would be so angry."
Bell continued, “There would be things that he would say and do, and the way that he would do things, and while I was experiencing the abuse.... The line could be crossed into, ‘I don’t know what could happen here. I don’t know if I’m gonna make it out.’”
Due to loose hiring policies and his good reputation among many powerful Hollywood figures, Peck worked on productions of other kids TV shows after his release from prison. Bell previously recalled seeing the registered sex offender at a restaurant with a group of teen boys after serving time for molesting him.
Listen to the full Luminosity episode with Drake Bell above.
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.
