Drake Bell has pleaded guilty to attempted child endangerment.
Earlier this month, the Nickelodeon star was charged with attempted child endangerment and disseminating matter harmful to children.
The actor, best known for playing Drake Parker in Drake & Josh, initially pleaded not guilty to the charges – but he has since agreed to a plea deal.
The charges stem from an alleged incident at a concert in Ohio on Dec. 1, 2017.
According to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, the 15-year-old female victim reported the alleged offences in 2018.
The attempted child endangerment charge relates to the concert where Drake allegedly “violated his duty of care” and created a risk of harm to the victim.
The 34-year-old has also been accused of sending “inappropriate social media messages” to the alleged victim.
During a virtual court appearance on Wednesday, the judge said: “My understanding is there’s been a plea agreement reached where the defendant will plead guilty to count one attempted endangering children, a felony in the fourth degree [and] plead guilty to count two: disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, a misdemeanor the first degree.”
The judge later informed Drake that attempted endangering children carries a sentence of anywhere from 6 to 18 months in prison in monthly increments and/or a fine of up to $5k.
The second charge carries up to six months in jail and/or a fine of up to $1,000.
“However, if you go to prison, upon your release, you could be subjected to a discretionary period of three years post-release control. Post-release control could involve restrictions on your activities,” the judge explained.
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“If you were to violate those restrictions, you can be returned to prison, [for] up to a maximum of one half of your original sentence. Do you understand the potential penalties?”
Drake replied: “I do, Your Honor. Yes.”
The actor was then asked: “Do you understand if you plead guilty that is an admission by you that you did these crimes?” to which he responded: “Yes, Your Honor.”
Drake’s lawyer Ian Friedman told PEOPLE: “All questions about this case will be answered at sentencing, including why Mr. Bell chose to enter his plea.”
Drake’s sentencing hearing is set for July 12.
