Kroy "KJ" Biermann Jr. was indicted Sept. 3 on seven charges in a sexual assault case, turning an arrest from less than three weeks earlier into a formal criminal prosecution. The Fulton County grand jury validated the charges after his Aug. 17 arrest, including aggravated child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, sexual battery against a child under 16 and false imprisonment.
The indictment matters now because it spells out the state’s case in a way an arrest did not. The charges allege that KJ "did unlawfully commit an immoral and indecent act" with a "child under the age of 16 years" on April 23, with the alleged incident said to have taken place in a Lifetime Fitness gym’s changing room. The false imprisonment count says he unlawfully detained the victim without legal authority and in violation of the minor’s personal liberty.
Jason Sheffield, the assault lawyer representing KJ, said the case needs patience and care because children are involved and the record must be understood in full before the process is over. He said KJ was 14 when the events allegedly occurred, that he was arrested at 15 and indicted less than three weeks later, and that the accused person has no right to participate, present evidence, cross-examine witnesses or have a voice in the proceeding. Sheffield also said the evidence he gathered will prove KJ is not guilty of the allegations and said there was no DNA evidence.
That defense push sets up the next stage of the case. Sheffield has said he hopes the matter will be handled in juvenile court, where he believes the lives of the young people involved can be respected and honored, but the indictment gives the prosecution seven charges to carry forward. His account leaves the dispute centered on credibility, with the defense calling it a matter of “she said, he said” while the grand jury’s vote showed there was enough to validate the case against the 15-year-old defendant.
Kim Zolciak also said KJ had passed a voluntary polygraph test and that DNA evidence was not found during an investigation of the alleged event, calling the allegations “reckless and deeply troubling.” For now, the indictment is the clearest sign that the case is moving ahead, even as the question of whether it ends up in juvenile court remains the one his lawyer is pressing most hard.
