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Transcript

In the Headlines: KJ Biermann · Deadly Divas True Crime Podcast

• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: Hey again, True Crime Divas and Dudes.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Tina and welcome back to another episode of In the Headlines from your favorite True Crime podcast, Deadly Divas.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Sarah's not here with me for this one, but she'll be back for our usual Friday episode.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: So over the past couple weeks, I have been keeping a close eye on a pretty high-profile case that has been developing right here in Georgia.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: There was a pretty major update just a few days ago, and it was pretty shocking.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I knew I had to sit down and tell y'all about it.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you were ever a real Housewives of Atlanta fan, you are definitely going to recognize the family involved here.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because Kim Zolsiak's 15-year-old son, Croy K.J.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Beerman Jr., has been indicted on seven felony charges involving the alleged sexual assault of a teenage girl.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: And despite being only 15 years old, he is currently being prosecuted as an adult.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: And as shocking as that is, it's actually not the most shocking part of this story.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Because during a bond hearing on September 11th, prosecutors revealed that this apparently is not the first time KJ has been involved in a case involving allegations of sexual misconduct.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: And some of what prosecutors say investigators found on his phone is very disturbing.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: So we're going to get into all of that today, but first a couple of disclaimers.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: Because this case involves allegations of sexual assault against minors, listener discretion is advised.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I also want to make it very clear that at this stage, these are just allegations, and KJ Beerman has not pleaded guilty.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_00: His attorney maintains that he is innocent, and his mother, Kim Zolsiak, has very publicly defended him.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: So for those of you who may not know, who are KJ Beerman and Kim Zolsiak?
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Kim was actually one of the original cast members of the Real Housewives of Atlanta, and during her time on the show, viewers watched her meet former Atlanta Falcons player Croy Beerman.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: The two married in 2011, eventually had four children together, and Croy also adopted Kim's two older daughters, Brielle and Ariana.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Their oldest biological child together is Croy Jagger Beerman Jr., better known as KJ.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: And that's part of what makes this story feel so bizarre for a lot of people who are familiar with this family.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: To them, KJ wasn't just some random celebrity kid who suddenly appeared in the media as a teenager because of some bad publicity.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: Millions of people literally watched him grow up on TV.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_00: On August 17th, 2026, KJ was arrested in Alpharetta, Georgia in connection with an alleged sexual assault that police say happened nearly four months earlier.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: According to investigators, the incident happened on April 23rd at a lifetime fitness in Alpharetta.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: KJ and the alleged victim were definitely not strangers.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: The girl told police that she knew both KJ and his girlfriend from school.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, KJ was dating her best friend at the time.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: She also said that KJ had previously dated a couple of her other friends, and there was apparently some history between KJ and the alleged victim herself.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: She told investigators that she and KJ had consensually kissed once before, but this was some time ago.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: According to her account, she was eating in the gym cafe after working out when she saw KJ and actually called him over.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: KJ allegedly asked if she wanted to go to the coed sauna with him, which required them to go through the family changing area.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: She agreed to go with him.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that's how the two of them ended up inside the area where she says the assault occurred.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: According to the police report, the girl said that once they were inside, KJ grabbed her around the waist, began kissing her neck, and grabbed her butt.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: She alleged that he then began touching her genital area over her clothing with enough force that it was painful.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: According to her account, she repeatedly told him no.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: She then alleged that KJ performed oral sex on her without her consent, digitally penetrated her, and repeatedly attempted to pull down her pants and have intercourse with her.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: She said she was eventually able to get away.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: Generally, I would not go into such graphic detail, especially with minors involved, but those details are important here because one of the charges KJ is facing is aggravated sodomy.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're like me, when you hear the word sodomy, you assume that means something very specific.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I learned that it can mean something very different when we're talking about Georgia law.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: In Georgia, sodomy means a sexual act involving one person's sex organs and another person's mouth or anus.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: It becomes aggravated sodomy when that act is accomplished by force and against the other person's will.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So, based on the allegations that have been publicly reported, that charge appears to relate to the alleged forced oral sexual contact.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: And that gives us some important context for the medical evidence in this case.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: The following day, the girl underwent a sexual assault examination where a sexual assault kit was completed.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Testing reportedly found no male DNA in her mouth or vagina.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: KJ's defense understandably points to that as evidence supporting his innocence.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_00: But the absence of male DNA doesn't necessarily establish that the sexual contact she described could not have occurred.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: On the other hand, prosecutors have said that the girl's medical records documented physical injuries following the alleged assault.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: Unfortunately, though, they haven't publicly explained exactly what those injuries were.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: What we can say for sure, though, is that prosecutors claim her medical records document physical injury, while KJ's defense points to the absence of male DNA as evidence supporting his denial of the allegations.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: Those are both facts that could become extremely important if this case eventually goes to trial.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: KJ's mother has also said that KJ voluntarily took a polygraph examination regarding the allegations and passed.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: But there are a couple of very important things to note with that.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: First, this isn't something that's been independently confirmed by law enforcement.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: The claim that KJ passed a polygraph is coming from his mother and his defense team.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it could be true, but it's also coming from sources who obviously have an interest in defending KJ.
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: I would want to hear from an impartial source that this polygraph was actually performed and performed legitimately, who it was performed by, what were the circumstances, etc.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_00: And second, polygraph tests are notoriously controversial when it comes to their reliability.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_00: There is a reason you don't normally see somebody walk into a courtroom and say, but I passed a lie detector test, and then they call it a day.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: Court dismissed.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's not how it works.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: And in fact, here in Georgia, polygraph results generally aren't admissible in court unless both sides expressly agree beforehand that the results can be used as evidence.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: In any case, his family and his defense team clearly believe both the supposed polygraph and the lack of DNA evidence help support KJ's innocence.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: And KJ's attorney has also made another pretty significant claim about the alleged victim.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: He says that he has evidence that she has made what he calls other prior false allegations.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I went looking for proof of that because obviously that's a pretty big claim, but I could not find anything explaining what those previous allegations were or if they were actually false.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_00: So right now, all we really know is that KJ's attorney says he has this evidence.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe we'll learn more about that as the case moves forward, but until then, I don't think it's fair to say that this girl has a history of making false accusations when there's no proof of that.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Investigators also have surveillance footage from Lifetime Fitness that helps establish at least part of the timeline.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: And there's something interesting about KJ even being there that day.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: According to the police report, investigators checked the gym's records and found that KJ never actually scanned into the facility on April 23rd, but surveillance footage apparently confirmed he was there.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: The video reportedly shows KJ and the girl together inside the gym and eventually shows him entering the family locker room.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: According to the police report, they remained inside that area for approximately 30 minutes.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: Now, there aren't cameras inside the actual changing area, of course, so the footage can't tell us what happened during those 30 minutes, but it does establish that KJ and the girl entered together and documents what happened immediately afterward.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: In the video, KJ eventually came out and headed towards the sauna by himself, and the girl came out shortly afterward and walked toward the lobby.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_00: So the surveillance footage does appear to corroborate part of her account that she and KJ were together and went into the family changing area where she says this assault occurred.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: What it doesn't establish is whether any sexual contact happened inside that room, or if it did, whether it was consensual.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: Meanwhile, police continued investigating.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: And eventually, they apparently believed they had enough evidence to seek charges.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: On August 17th, almost four months after the alleged encounter, KJ was arrested.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Initially, he was facing two felony charges, aggravated sodomy and aggravated sexual battery.
• 10:05
  SPEAKER_00: And because of the seriousness of the allegations, Georgia Law allowed the case to proceed in adult court despite KJ being only fifteen.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: But those two charges were only the beginning.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: On September 3rd, a Fulton County grand jury returned an indictment against KJ, and suddenly he wasn't facing two felony charges anymore.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: He was facing seven.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_00: One count of aggravated child molestation, one count of aggravated sexual battery, one count of aggravated sodomy, one count of false imprisonment, and three counts of sexual battery against a child under the age of 16.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: The indictment alleges that KJ unlawfully restrained the girl and subjected her to forced sexual acts inside that changing room.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: His defense, of course, denies that, and his mother, Kim Zolsiak, has been extremely outspoken about it.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: After her son's arrest, she released a statement calling the allegations, quote, reckless and deeply troubling.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: She said KJ categorically denies the accusations and again pointed to the lack of male DNA recovered during testing and the polygraph.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: KJ's attorney, Jason Sheffield, went even further.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: He said he is not only presumed innocent, but is, in fact, innocent.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_00: And his attorneys began fighting not only the charges themselves, but where their 15-year-old clients should be prosecuted, because KJ's case is currently in Fulton County Superior Court, which is adult court.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: His attorneys have asked for the case to be transferred into the juvenile justice system, and that distinction could have enormous consequences for KJ if he's eventually convicted.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: But before that issue could be resolved, there was another question.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: Would KJ be allowed to go home while he waits for his case to move forward?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: He had been held at the Metro Regional Youth Detention Center in Atlanta since his arrest.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_00: And on September 11th, KJ appeared before a judge for a bond hearing.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: His attorneys wanted him released.
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_00: Prosecutors, of course, wanted him kept in custody.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_00: And get ready, y'all, because I am about to drop a bomb.
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: During that hearing, the state revealed something that had largely been hidden from the public because KJ was a juvenile.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: KJ was already under juvenile court supervision when the alleged assault at the gym occurred.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this wasn't his first time dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: And what prosecutors revealed about that previous case is extremely disturbing.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: This goes all the way back to April of 2023.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: The alleged victim was a female family member who was under the age of 12 at the time.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: And during KJ's bond hearing, Deputy District Attorney Caitlin McGillicuddy revealed that investigators had allegedly found multiple videos on KJ's cell phone involving this younger relative.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Some of those videos depicted penetrative sexual activity between KJ and the younger family member.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: They also alleged that the videos captured KJ using what McGillicuddy characterized as predatory and derogatory language toward the child.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly what was said has not been made public.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And there's another important piece of information we don't have.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know exactly how old KJ was when those videos were recorded.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, this other case dates back to 2023, so KJ himself would have been much younger than he is today.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Ultimately, prosecutors say KJ was charged in juvenile court with sexual battery involving a victim under the age of 16, and he had been under court supervision in connection with that since October 2025.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_00: But KJ's attorney says prosecutors are giving a very misleading impression of what actually happened.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: He says the previous case involved what he described as inappropriate, crude behavior involving two middle schoolers.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And according to Sheffield, that juvenile case did not result in KJ being adjudicated for statutory rape, sexual intercourse, or any comparable offense.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: So we have two dramatically different characterizations of the same juvenile case.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_00: And because this happened in juvenile court, we don't have the complete underlying record publicly available to sort through for ourselves.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: But what we do know is that KJ was already under juvenile court supervision because of that previous case when the alleged assault at Lifetime Fitness happened in April 2026.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: And that became a huge part of the prosecution's argument against letting him go home.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: From their perspective, KJ had already been through the juvenile justice system, had already been placed under court supervision, and yet was now accused of committing another serious sexual offense.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: Prosecutors argued that this showed KJ could pose a danger to other young people if he were released.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: And they specifically raised concerns about him being around his younger siblings.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: They also raised concerns about the alleged victim in the current case, because she told the court that she had been living in fear and was worried about what could happen if KJ were released.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: She claimed that she's been receiving anonymous harassing messages on Snapchat pressuring her to drop the charges.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: She even said that members of her family had also been receiving emails and phone calls of the same nature.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: And there's no evidence currently that links KJ to any of that.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: We don't know who sent those messages or made those phone calls.
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_00: But prosecutors brought them up because they were concerned about the girl's safety and possible witness intimidation.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: So from the prosecution's perspective, simply sending KJ home under parental supervision was not enough.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: The defense, meanwhile, described KJ as a quiet teenager who had been traumatized by being held in detention and argued that he could safely return home under strict supervision.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: His attorneys initially proposed a bond of$65,000.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Prosecutors opposed his release, but argued that if the judge did grant bond, it should be significantly higher because of the seriousness of these charges.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: And ultimately, the judge decided KJ could go home.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: But his freedom came with some very serious restrictions.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: Judge Melanie Leftridge set KJ's bond at$200,000.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: And under the conditions of his release, KJ must live at his mother's home.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: He has to wear a GPS ankle monitor, surrender his passport, attend school virtually, and he cannot use a cell phone or social media.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: He also can't contact the alleged victim, her family, or anybody associated with her.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: And perhaps most notably, he cannot have any contact with anyone age 16 or so this 15-year-old cannot even freely associate with other kids his own age while this case is pending.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: And because of that restriction, nobody under 16 can live at or even visit Kim's house while KJ is staying there.
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: That even includes his own younger siblings.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: And now we are left with two very different versions of KJ Beerman.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: His family and his attorney say he's a 15-year-old boy who has been falsely accused of an extremely serious crime.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: They point to the lack of male DNA and to the alleged past polygraph.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: His attorney also claims that there's evidence that the alleged victim has made prior false accusations.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: They continue to maintain that KJ is innocent.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: Prosecutors are painting a dramatically different picture.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: They say a teenage girl suffered documented injuries after being forcibly assaulted inside a gym changing room.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_00: They say KJ was already under juvenile court supervision when that alleged assault occurred.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: And they point to the previous case involving his younger family member as evidence that he could pose a risk to other young people.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, KJ's attorneys are preparing to fight those allegations while also fighting to have their teenage client's case moved out of adult court and back into the juvenile system.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: And that could be one of the biggest battles in this entire case.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: But we will see how it plays out.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: I'm definitely going to be keeping my eye on this one.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: And as for my personal take on it, ultimately, KJ is a 15-year-old kid, and I want to be as fair as possible.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: He hasn't been convicted of these charges, and there are absolutely pieces of evidence that his defense is going to use that are legitimate, especially the lack of male DNA.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: But we cannot ignore what prosecutors revealed at that bond hearing.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: He ultimately was already under juvenile court supervision for a previous sexual battery case.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: And it is very concerning that his defense seems to be minimizing that previous case.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: They just described it as like two kids messing around.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: But whatever happened was serious enough that he ended up charged with sexual battery.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: So obviously it was very serious.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_00: And side note on that, they have completely invalidated the victim in that case by saying that.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I just I cannot get behind that.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: That's gross.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: And now, while he's still under supervision for that case, he's been accused of another serious sexual offense.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: And that isn't prove he's guilty, but it is extremely concerning.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_00: And if these allegations are true, then clearly this is a kid who needs serious intervention and some accountability immediately, not five years from now after something else happens and some other poor girl gets hurt and traumatized.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I really hope that the adults in his life understand the seriousness of that.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: Now, as for that alleged victim, I truly hope that she gets some justice here.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, the fact that they have allowed him out on bond after she made a plea to the court that she had been threatened and that she does not feel safe is just insult to injury.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, I definitely understand that this is a really sticky one.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: We are talking about minors, and I just want to be really careful.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_00: But I am gonna be keeping my eye on it, and if we have anything explosive happen, I will definitely give you guys an update.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: In the meantime, as always, let me know what you think on TikTok or YouTube or Facebook.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, as always, stay safe and be divas, if not deadly.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_00: Bye.