KJ Biermann’s parents fought over his cellphone in sealed divorce court proceedings more than a year before his arrest on sex-crime charges.
The battle between Kim Zolciak, 48, and Kroy Biermann, 41, erupted on Feb. 18, when the “Real Housewives of Atlanta” alum filed an emergency motion in Fulton County claiming her estranged husband had seized their children’s devices and cut off her access to them. That same day, Zolciak also sought an in-camera inspection — a private judicial review of evidence — though the filing itself does not specify what material she wanted examined.
A subsequent filing dated Feb. 21, in Cobb County, where the divorce case was moved, referenced an order governing their “eldest child’s cellular telephone, and the data thereon, which had been the subject of the in-camera inspection motion.” The following month, the court sealed documents related to the matter. No public record of any inspection results has surfaced.
The couple’s four children include KJ, 15, Kane, 14, and twins Kash and Kaia, 12. Zolciak’s emergency motion alleged that Kroy had informed a court-appointed mental health professional on Feb. 7, about a discovery that remains redacted from public documents.
“In protecting the best interests of the children, Mother will not put into this public pleading what is alleged to be on REDACTED,” the motion states.
The filing further claimed Kroy “began battening down the hatches,” unilaterally stripping Zolciak of parenting time, taking the children’s phones, and blocking communication between them and their mother. “Mother has had extremely limited parenting time, and Mother has grave concerns for the children’s safety and wellbeing, as well as the preservation of evidence which may be (or may have been) stored REDACTED,” it continued.
The former couple, who filed a joint dismissal in Fulton County before refiling in Cobb County, ultimately agreed their attorneys would seek the order on the eldest child’s phone and its data.
KJ was indicted earlier this month by a Georgia grand jury on seven charges: aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual battery, three counts of aggravated sexual battery against a child under 16, and false imprisonment. He has been held at Atlanta’s Metro Regional Youth Detention Center since his Aug. 17 arrest.
The charges stem from alleged acts against a victim under 16 on April 23 at a Life Time Fitness in Alpharetta, Georgia. During KJ’s first court appearance last Friday, prosecutors claimed videos found on the teen’s phone showed him having sex with an underage family member.
KJ’s attorney, Jason Sheffield, has denied the allegations. “The matter arose from inappropriate, crude behavior involving two middle-schoolers,” Sheffield said in a statement. “It did not result in an adjudication for statutory rape, sexual intercourse, or any comparable offense.”
Sheffield has also maintained his client’s broader innocence. “He is not only presumed innocent, but is, in fact, innocent,” the lawyer stated. “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.”
Zolciak has similarly defended her son. “The allegations being made against my son are nothing short of reckless and deeply troubling,” she said in a statement. She continued, “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.”
Kroy has not publicly addressed the allegations against his son.
A Georgia judge granted KJ $200,000 bond during the Friday hearing. Release conditions require him to stay at his mother’s home, attend virtual school, abstain from social media, and avoid cellphone use. He is also barred from contact with the alleged victim, her family or associates, anyone 16 or younger, and will wear an electronic monitor.
No connection has been independently established between the 2025 cellphone dispute and the evidence now central to KJ’s criminal case, nor is it publicly known what, if anything, his parents knew about the phone’s contents at the time of the divorce proceedings.
KJ’s next court date has not been publicly scheduled.