Drake Bell reveals he was victim of sexual assault at 15 by Nickelodeon acting coach Brian Peck in documentary

Drake Bell, best known as one half of the Nickelodeon comedy series Drake & Josh, reveals in new documentary that he was sexually assaulted when he was 15 years old by acting coach Brian Peck.

Brian Peck, who shares no relation with Drake & Josh co-star Josh Peck, was arrested in 2003, when he was 43, on 11 charges including ‘lewd act upon a child’, and in 2004 he pleaded no contest to  two charges of child sexual abuse, was sentenced to 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender, though after his release he continued to work on children’s TV, joining the crew of The Suite Life of Zack & Cody.

The victim involved in the case was protected by anonymity law, but now Drake Bell has revealed that he was the person Peck assaulted.

Speaking on episode three of upcoming documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, Bell said: “I woke up to him — I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me. 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,” 

He added: “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. I was just trapped. I had no way out. The abuse was extensive and it got pretty brutal.”

Bell’s father, Joe, had initially voiced concerns about the amount of time Brian Peck was spending with his son, but was told that he was being homophobic because Peck was gay, and as a result his concerns were dismissed.

Brian Peck continued to work in TV until 2019 - he featured on predominantly children's TV and films including Bedtime Stories, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Animal Showdown. He died in 2021.

Four part documentary series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV will premiere on March 17, on Investigation Discovery in the US. A UK release date has not yet been confirmed.