Kim Zolciak is publicly defending her 15-year-old son after police in Alpharetta, Georgia, arrested Kroy 'KJ' Biermann Jr on aggravated sodomy and aggravated sexual battery charges stemming from an alleged incident at a local gym on 23 April.
The Real Housewives of Atlanta alum, who has been in the public eye for more than a decade, has called the allegations against her son 'reckless and deeply troubling' and insists he is innocent.
Court documents show that KJ was taken into custody on 17 August following an investigation into an alleged assault at a Life Time fitness facility in Alpharetta.
The complainant, who is also a minor, has not been publicly identified. KJ is being held at the Metro Regional Youth Detention Center without bond, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for 8 September.
The charges, aggravated sodomy and aggravated sexual battery, are felony offences under Georgia law. KJ has not been convicted, and his lawyer has strongly denied the allegations.
Kim Zolciak Says Son 'Categorically' Denies Allegations
In a statement issued on 21 August, Zolciak did not hedge her words. She said KJ 'categorically denies ever being involved with this woman or engaging in the conduct she has alleged.' Her statement directly disputes the allegations underlying his arrest.
Zolciak said her son voluntarily took a polygraph examination and passed. She further pointed to the results of a sexual-assault examination, which, according to the police report, detected no male DNA in the complainant's mouth or vagina.
Neither point establishes what occurred. Polygraph tests have significant evidentiary limitations, while the absence of male DNA does not by itself establish that an alleged assault did not occur.
'False accusations can have devastating consequences not only for the person being accused, but also for genuine survivors of sexual assault and abuse,' she said, stressing that 'every legitimate allegation deserves to be taken seriously and investigated based on the facts and evidence.'
Zolciak also argued that no one should be publicly condemned solely on the basis of an accusation, while expressing confidence that the evidence would establish what happened.
She finished with a plea for patience, 'We remain confident that the facts and evidence will establish the truth, and we ask that people allow the proper process to take its course rather than spreading unproven allegations.'
Lawyer Calls Arrest of Zolciak's Son a 'Tragedy'
KJ's attorney, Jason Sheffield, went further, telling Us Weekly that the teenager is '100 percent innocent.'
'Had the officer sat down with me, I feel certain she would've never made an arrest,' Sheffield said, arguing that investigators should have considered evidence presented by the defence before taking KJ into custody.
He described KJ being held without bond as 'a tragedy,' adding, 'He is not only presumed innocent, but is in fact, innocent.'
Sheffield said he would 'work tirelessly' to convince the district attorney's office that the allegations are false, while urging the public 'not to presume the truth of these allegations and to give the families on both sides their space and privacy.'
The case involves two minors, making caution particularly important as competing accounts begin circulating publicly.
The Alpharetta Police Department's report provides more detail about the allegations, but those allegations have not been tested in court. Investigators gathered statements and reviewed evidence as part of the months-long investigation that preceded KJ's arrest.
Until that evidence is examined through the legal process, the case remains one in which the complainant has made serious allegations and KJ denies them through his mother and attorney.
Reality TV Fallout as Zolciak Faces Crisis at Home
Zolciak has lived much of her adult life in front of cameras, first on The Real Housewives of Atlanta and later on the family-centred spin-off Don't Be Tardy.
Viewers watched her marry former NFL player Kroy Biermann, watched Biermann adopt her two eldest daughters and later followed the couple as they raised their younger children together.
Now, the criminal case involving their eldest son together has placed the family under a different and far more serious form of public scrutiny. Details from police reports and court proceedings have rapidly circulated across entertainment and social media.
That attention also creates particular concerns because the case involves minors. Neither the allegations nor the defence's account has yet been adjudicated.
KJ is the eldest of the four younger children Zolciak shares with her estranged husband Biermann. They also have son Kash and twins Kaia and Kane, while Biermann adopted Zolciak's older daughters Brielle and Ariana.
The parents have been embroiled in contentious divorce proceedings since 2023, with disputes over money, property and custody playing out in court filings and the media.
View this post on Instagram
The latest case now places another serious legal matter around a family whose private disputes have already received extensive public attention.
Sexual-assault allegations involving minors require particular care in reporting. The seriousness of the accusations does not remove KJ's presumption of innocence, while his family's denial does not establish that the complainant's allegations are false.
For now, KJ remains in juvenile detention without bond and has not been convicted of any crime. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for 8 September, when the legal process should begin providing a clearer picture of the evidence behind the charges.
