Kriti Mehrotra
While there’s no denying Huntington, Indiana, native Brian Peck was unwaveringly loved by almost everyone during his initial two decades in the entertainment industry, things changed in 2003. That’s because, as carefully chronicled in ID’s ‘Quiet on Set: The Dark Sid e of Kids TV,’ this is when he was arrested on 11 charges of child sexual abuse on a single then-unidentified teenage boy. This survivor actually remained John Doe right until this docuseries’ premiere — Drake Bell publicly identified himself within it for the first time — yet for now, if you simply wish to learn more about the former as well as his apparent brutal offenses, here’s what we know.
Who is Brian Peck?
It was reportedly back in 1982 that 22-year-old Brian first began dipping his toes into Hollywood as an actor in the hopes of gaining both national and international success, only to soon find himself willingly evolving into a producer, narrator, filmmaker, plus dialogue coach. In fact, some of his initial credits include ‘The Last American Virgin,’ the ‘Return of the Living Dead’ saga, ‘Growing Pains,’ ‘Kenan & Kel,’ ‘Guys Like Us,’ ‘Boy Meets World,’ ‘X-Men,’ and much more. Then came his stints in ‘All That’ and ‘The Amanda Show’ as not just Pickle Boy but also a dialogue coach between 2000 to 2002, which is where he originally came across rising teen star Drake Bell.
The truth is that while the entire crew appreciated Brian, his humor, and his wit, Drake’s dad/manager Joe always felt like there was something more in him due to his utter closeness to the teen. There were not-so-subtle arm touches as well as attempts to get him alone, according to the aforementioned series, but he didn’t succeed until he managed to manipulate Drake into firing his father under the false pretense of him stealing. Nevertheless, Joe still told his mom never to leave the teen alone with Brian, yet to no avail – he managed to slither his way into nearly every aspect of his life and then often even had him stay over following auditions.
“I was sleeping on the couch where I would usually sleep,” then 15-year-old Drake somberly conceded in the production, recalling the first time Brian sexually assaulted him. “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 then added his mentor was extremely apologetic after the fact, saying it would never happen again, yet it did – repeatedly until his girlfriend’s mother recognized what was going on following his insistent calls over a canceled plan and got the ball rolling.
Drake also said, “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. I don’t know how to elaborate on that on camera, really… Why don’t you think of the worst stuff that someone could do to somebody as a sexual assault, and then I’ll answer your question. I don’t know how else to put it.” However, it wasn’t until August 2003 that Brian was arrested on 11 counts over his actions.
Brian Peck Still Seems to be a Part of the Industry
Unfortunately, despite all charges and testimonies, Brian was sentenced to an extremely lenient 16 months in prison and ordered to register as a sex offender. This verdict was actually influenced by the 41 character letters the judge received in favor of the defendant, especially as a lot of them were from his former co-workers and other big names in entertainment. Among them were actually Ron Melendez, Alan Thicke, James Marsden, Rider Strong, Will Friedle, and Taran Killam, most of whom had since recanted their statement claiming they were misinformed of his actions when they asked him to only receive probation. His pen palship with serial killer John Wayne Gacy didn’t influence any decision either.
Coming to Brian’s current standing, he served his sentence before jumping right back into the work he loved doing, and it resulted in him landing a spot at ‘The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.’ He was allegedly terminated once they learned his history, but he still managed to convince working network kids and teen shows. It turns out that as per court orders, he was only “prohibited from direct contact with children, not from being part of productions in which children are acting.” This means the family man has since continued to reside in Los Angeles, California, alongside his loved ones and continues working, with his most recent credit being the 2018 ‘Animal Showdown’ miniseries as a narrator and 2014’s ‘Murder Bullet’ as Detective Klayvin.
Read More: Jason Handy: Where is the Convicted Pedophile Now?
