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Former child actor says that he worried for his life during encounters with the acting coach who abused him as a teenager.
In March of this year, Bell disclosed in Investigation Discovery’s “Quiet on Set” that in the 2003 case involving Brian Peck, who worked with Bell during his time at Nickelodeon. In the docuseries, Bell called what he endured “unspeakable acts and crimes” and “the worst stuff that a person could do to somebody as a sexual assault.”
In , Bell explained his choice of words.
“I didn’t go into it in the documentary, because it’s very, very difficult,” he said. “I do say the word ‘unspeakable’ often. … It is far, far too graphic.”
After Peck’s 2003 arrest, he pleaded no contest to lewd acts upon a child 14 or 15 by a person 10 years older and oral copulation of a person under 16, according to court documents. He served a 16-month prison sentence and was made to register as a sex offender.
Bell told Snow that Peck’s home, where he said he was abused, had a painting by John Wayne Gacy, the convicted serial killer who murdered at least 33 young men and boys in the 1970s. Bell said the painting was signed with the note, “From your good friend, John Wayne Gacy.” Former “All That” actor Kyle Sullivan also discussed this painting in “Quiet on Set” and recalled the same written message. while he was on death row.
“Things were happening to me in a room where there’s a painting by one of the most prolific serial killers who preyed on young boys, staring at me,” Bell said. “So now, that puts into my mind: How far is this really going to go? How far can this go?”
“You were worried for your life,” Snow said.
“Of course. That’s the only way to put it,” Bell replied.
Peck’s attorney in the 2003 case has not returned NBC News’ requests for comment.
When Bell revealed himself in “Quiet on Set” as the plaintiff in Peck’s 2003 case, Nickelodeon said in a statement to NBC News, “We are dismayed and saddened to learn of the trauma he has endured, and we commend and support the strength required to come forward.”
According to “Quiet on Set,” Bell met Peck at Nickelodeon where Bell worked as an actor and Peck as an acting and dialogue coach. In the docuseries, Bell described the moment the sexual abuse began. He said he was 15 years old. “Everything changed with Brian (Peck) one morning. … I knew that my life was going to be absolutely, completely different from that point on,” he said.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep … I opened my eyes, I woke up and he was sexually assaulting me,” Bell said. “I froze and was in complete shock and had no idea what to do or how to react.”
In conversation with Snow, Bell spoke about his difficulty putting his experiences into words, and used as a comparison the Netflix show in which a comedian uses his standup to discuss his experience with a stalker after a time he was raped by another comedy writer.
“You want to be detailed. You want to be Donnie in ‘Baby Reindeer’ onstage and tell them what happened to you and what they did to you,” he said. “Not only is it really difficult to speak about and to put into words, but I’m also not really in an environment where I think they would want to put that on national television.”
“The things that were happening to me were so — it’s a big word, but gruesome,” he said. “I had no way out of it.”
When talking with Snow, Bell reflected on how sharing his story might impact others who have endured abuse.
“I hope that someone who is at the age, or at any age, like I was when I was going through what I went through, can hear my story,” he said. “I think an important part of what I’ve learned is that you’re not alone.”
EDITOR’S NOTE (May 20, 2:35 p.m.): This story has been edited to reflect that Brian Peck pleaded no contest to his charges.
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