Kim Zolciak’s 15-year-old son, Kroy “KJ” Biermann Jr., is facing at least 25 years in prison without parole if convicted as an adult on the aggravated charges against him, according to a new court filing.
“The aggravated charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 25 years in prison, up to life,” KJ’s attorney, Jason Sheffield, wrote in the Sept. 8 filing exclusively obtained by Page Six.
Sheffield said the sentencing court “cannot probate any portion of the 25 years” and that KJ “would not be eligible for parole.”
“He would have to serve every day of each 25-year sentence, if run consecutively,” the attorney added.
Sheffield discussed the potential punishment while asking a Fulton County Superior Court judge to transfer the teen’s case to juvenile court, arguing KJ was just 14 at the time of the alleged incident and should be given an opportunity for rehabilitation rather than face the adult criminal justice system.
“At fifteen, KJ’s story is not finished,” Sheffield wrote. “That proposition is not sentimental. It is developmental reality, and it is embedded in Georgia’s statutory scheme.”
The lawyer argued 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.”
Sheffield declared that evidence he plans to present at a transfer hearing will show that KJ “remains amenable to treatment, supervision, structure, education, and rehabilitation within the juvenile justice system.”
“The adult system asks principally what punishment an offense deserves,” Sheffield wrote in the filing. “The transfer statute asks a different question: What should happen to this child?”
The attorney acknowledged that the allegations against the teenager are “unquestionably serious,” but argues that “seriousness is not at the end of the inquiry.”
The filing also asks the court to impose extensive privacy protections as the case moves forward, arguing that the intense publicity surrounding the allegations could affect witnesses and “contaminate recollections.”
“Neither child chose this attention. Yet both must now live beneath it,” Sheffield wrote.
He asked the judge to consider sealing certain juvenile records, restricting the disclosure of information involving minors and closing portions of the transfer hearing when necessary.
The new filing comes days after a Georgia grand jury indicted KJ on seven felony counts — aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, three counts of aggravated sexual battery against a child under 16 and false imprisonment.
The charges stem from an alleged April 23 encounter with a female classmate at a Life Time fitness center in Alpharetta, Georgia.
The girl accused KJ of forcing sexual acts on her inside the gym’s family changing room despite her repeatedly telling him “no,” according to court documents previously obtained by Page Six.
Sheffield claimed in a statement to Page Six that his client is “100% innocent” and that he “tried to present evidence to the arresting officer, including a passed polygraph by a notable and respected sex offender polygrapher,” and claimed he has “evidence of other prior false allegations by the alleged victim.”
“Additionally, the officer’s report notes [that investigators] found no male DNA on or inside the areas the alleged victim claimed she was assaulted. The fact that he’s been arrested and is being held without bond is a tragedy,” Sheffield continued.
“He is not only presumed innocent, but is, in fact, innocent. I’m asking the public not to presume the truth of these allegations and to give the families on both sides their space and privacy,” his statement concluded.
KJ has remained at Atlanta’s Metro Regional Youth Detention Center since his arrest and is being held without bond. His next bond hearing is scheduled for Sept. 11.
Sheffield has said KJ is expected to plead not guilty to all charges.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-330-0226.
The post KJ Biermann, 15, too immature to face adult charges — and 25-year prison sentence without parole — for sodomy, sexual battery charges, lawyer claims appeared first on Page Six.
