Drake Bell has been arrested and charged with disseminating matter harmful to juveniles and attempted endangering children.
The 34-year-old star of the Nickelodeon show Drake & Josh appeared in court on Thursday after being arrested by the Cleveland Division of Police in Cuyahoga County, Ohio - although details of when the arrest took place are still unknown. A mugshot of the star has since emerged online dated Thursday 3 June at 02:52PM.
In court documents obtained by Page Six, the former teen star - real name Jared Drake Bell - has pleaded not guilty to the charges of attempted endangerment of children and disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.
Page Six adds that Bell appeared in an Ohio court on Thursday (June 3), and was placed on a $2,500 bond. The actor was also ordered to submit a DNA specimen collection.
Bell's bond also reportedly states that he can have no contact with the victim, who NBC News states is a 15-year-old female from Canada.
The outlet adds that Cleveland police have concluded following an investigation that the victim had "established a relationship with Bell several years prior [and] attended his concert in December 2017."
Reports add that the alleged crime took place on December 1, 2017.
In a now-deleted tweet from October 2017, Bell revealed that he was scheduled to appear at The Odeon Concert Club on the day the alleged incident occurred.
Per NBC, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office says that while at the concert, "Bell violated his duty of care and, in doing so, created a risk of harm to the victim." Cleveland police also revealed that Bell sent "inappropriate social media messages" to the victim.
The teenager reported the alleged offenses in 2018, Sky News states.
A virtual pre-trial hearing is scheduled for June 23.
The news comes almost one year after Bell was accused of "verbal and physical abuse" by his ex-girlfriend Melissa Lingafelt.
Lingafelt - a musician better known by her stage name Jimi Ono - revealed in a TikTok video to her fans that Bell subjected her to "the worst type of verbal abuse you could imagine" during their relationship.
The pair dated for roughly two years after getting together in 2006.
In the video, Lingafelt claims: "I started dating Drake when I was 16. I was home-schooled, I moved in with him. I was singing. It wasn't until about a year when the verbal abuse started, and when I say verbal abuse, imagine the worst type of verbal abuse you could imagine and that's what I got."
She claims the abuse then became physical.
Per Page Six, Bell denied the allegations, but did admit that both parties calling "each other terrible names".
