Millennials have learned their favorite Nickelodeon TV shows from the early 2000s were not what they seemed in the ID series Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. Among many other revelations, Drake & Josh actor Drake Bell accused dialogue coach Brian Peck of child sex abuse — so, is Peck in jail?
According to Bell’s allegations, Peck’s sexual abuse began while Bell was a cast member on Nickelodeon’s The Amanda Show, starring Amanda Bynes, and before Drake & Josh was in production. Describing the abuse, Bell, who was 15 at the time, told ID, “Why don’t you do this: why don’t you think of the worst stuff that somebody could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and that’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it. It was not a one-time thing, it was not a ‘Oops.'”
Bell’s father, Joe Bell, who managed his son’s acting career, also said he suspected Peck might be abusing his teenage son, but according to Joe, his concerns were largely ignored by Nickelodeon. In the meantime, Bells says Peck turned him against his father and manipulated Bell’s mother to let the boy stay the night at his house as the abuse continued, Entertainment Weekly reported.
Brian Peck was arrested in 2003
By 2003, Brian Peck’s pattern of abuse caught up with him, and he was arrested. Peck faced 11 child sexual abuse charges, including administering an anesthesia or controlled substance to a minor in a sex act, according to Variety. He pleaded no contest. At that time, Peck’s accuser remained anonymous. In The Dark Side of Kids TV, Drake Bell also disclosed they were his allegations.
Speaking on the ID show streaming on Max, Bell said, “I was hoping that the outcome would be that he goes to jail, he is there for a while, and that he would never be able to work with kids again, which would in turn pretty much mean that you’re not gonna work in Hollywood because very few productions don’t have a least one kid on the set. That’s not what happened at all.”
Brian Peck served 16 months
In 2004, Brian Peck received a 16-month prison sentence and registered as a sex offender. After Peck served that time, he was released, and as of 2024, he remains a free man. Peck also went on to work in Hollywood after his prison sentence, including The Suite Life of Zack & Cody on the Disney Channel. He only did voiceover work on the show, and when Zack & Cody producers learned of Peck’s conviction, he told them the matter was “resolved.” The Disney Channel later fired him.
In March 2024, TMZ snapped photos of Peck in Los Angeles as he tried to avoid the paparazzi, and according to Peck’s IMDB, he continued to work in Hollywood well into the 2010s.