James Marsden Wrote Letter of Support for Drake Bell’s Alleged Abuser Brian Peck in Court

Actor James Marsden made an emotional plea to the court not to sentence his friend Brian Peck to prison time — after the man had been accused of lewd acts with a minor.

Marsden and others wrote letters in support of Peck as part of his 2003 criminal case.

Peck was arrested in August 2003 on a charge of lewd acts with a child. Prosecutors accused him of sexually assaulting a minor in 2001.

It was revealed Peck had been working as the minor’s dialogue coach. Peck was convicted in 2004. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender.

This month, Discovery released a documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV that revealed the victim associated with the criminal case for the first time.

Child actor Drake Bell came forward to reveal he was the kid assaulted by Peck which resulted in the criminal charges being brought.

“The abuse was extensive, and it got pretty brutal,” he said. Bell said the abuse occurred multiple times and it has caused him extensive pain throughout his life.

“I often look back at that time and wonder how in the world I survived,” he said. Bell said he turned to drugs and alcohol to use the pain.

Now, the documentary producers revealed Marsden and several others tried to help Peck avoid prison time. Ahead of his sentencing, Marsden wrote a letter to the court to praise Peck’s character. It is unclear how much Marsden knew about the allegations when he wrote the letter.

The actor had worked with Peck on two films.

“When I first heard the news of Brian’s arrest I couldn’t breathe. I could not believe what was happening. It was unimaginable,” he said. “I’ve known Brian for 14 years and never once did I ever see any sign of him being capable of something like this. I have lived at his house for months and shared hotel rooms with him and never once did he ever make me feel compromised or uncomfortable in any way. I don’t know what it would take to have something like this occur, whatever it is, it is extremely out of character for Brian.”