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Credit: Alpharetta Police Department/Instagram/kimzolciakbiermann
Fans of Don’t Be Tardy were stunned by reports that Kim Zolciak’s 15-year-old son, Kroy “KJ” Jagger Biermann, was arrested this year following allegations that he sexually assaulted a fellow high school student.
The case drew further attention after allegations emerged that videos recovered from his phone involved an underage family member.
Although KJ was granted a $200,000 bond, a new development in the criminal case was reported Thursday night.
According to TMZ, prosecutors have submitted emergency court documents related to the matter.
The outlet reported that it obtained a court docket showing prosecutors filed a motion requesting court-ordered interviews of “minor children.”
Few additional details were included in the filing. However, TMZ noted that forensic interviews are conducted by trained professionals, and any information gathered could be used as part of the prosecution’s case.
KJ was previously indicted on seven charges, including aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, false imprisonment, and three counts of sexual battery against a child under 16, according to prior reports.
It remains unclear whether he has been released after bond was approved. A September 15 filing obtained by Page Six stated that, before leaving jail, he would be required to surrender his personal belongings, including his passport.
Other conditions that had been previously revealed, including a social media and cell phone ban, would “remain the same.”
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A warning was also given to KJ not to contact the alleged victim in the sexual assault case or any of her friends or family members.
He will also be required to wear an ankle monitor so that his location is known.
While KJ was initially going to be tried as an adult, his legal team filed a motion to get his case transferred to juvenile court.
Page Six shared that his lawyer, Jason Sheffield, said at the arraignment hearing, which is due to take place on October 14, they plan to “enter a not guilty plea to all charges.” He also noted they planned on filing the motion so KJ would be “tried as a juvenile.”
“It is difficult to comprehend that a 14- or 15-year-old child can be held in detention for a month or longer simply waiting for a bond hearing,” Jason stated. “But that detention is a direct consequence of the detective’s decision to arrest him on charges of this magnitude.”
The outlet also shared a September 8 filing where Jason wrote, “The aggravated charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, up to life.”
He stated the sentencing court “cannot probate any portion of the 25 years” and noted that KJ “would not be eligible for parole.”
“He would have to serve every day of each 25-year sentence, if run consecutively,” Jason elaborated.
“At fifteen, KJ’s story is not finished,” he also shared when requesting the case be moved to a juvenile court, as he feels KJ was 14 at the time of the alleged incident and should be given the chance to rehabilitate himself instead of having to face an adult criminal justice system. “That proposition is not sentimental. It is developmental reality, and it is embedded in Georgia’s statutory scheme.”
Jason added that KJ “is an adolescent whose development is ongoing” and “whose future cannot reliably be predicted merely from the labels attached to the allegations against him.”