Son of 'Housewives' Star RELEASED in Sex Crimes Case

KJ Beerman has officially been released. from a youth detention facility on. strict bond conditions. Now, we're going. to tell you where he reportedly is, [music]. more on those conditions, and how much. of a fight it was to keep him locked up. as he faces serious sex crimes charges. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. It's official. [music] 15-year-old Croy. KJ Beerman has been released from jail. while awaiting trial in his sex crimes.

case. Now, as we go into this, these are. allegations. He is innocent unless. proven guilty. But look, we were waiting. for this to potentially happen because. we know that he was granted a $200,000. bond by Fulton County Superior Court. Judge Melanie Leidge. He had been locked. up for about a month since he was. arrested in mid August. And according to. TMZ, he has been released from Atlanta's. Metro Regional Youth Detention Center. He is now reportedly living with his. mother, reality TV star Kim Zoliaak. She.

has full-time care of him. And KJ, as we. know, was officially indicted by a grand. jury in Georgia on seven charges, including aggravated child molestation, aggravated sodomy, aggravated sexual. battery, false imprisonment, and also. three counts of aggravated sexual. battery against a child under 16. Prosecutors claim he sexually assaulted. a female classmate at a Lifetime Fitness. in Alpharetta, Georgia on April 23rd of. this year. According to Page Six, when. she was examined at a hospital the next. day, reportedly no male DNA was found in.

her mouth or private area. These are the. areas where she claims she was. assaulted, but police conducted an. investigation and KJ Beerman was. arrested last month. His lawyer, Jason. Sheffield, claims his client is. completely innocent. Actually, when you. think about Bond and you think about him. being released, and we're going to talk. about his conditions in a minute, the. alleged victim in this case even. addressed the court, the judge at a bond. hearing. And remember, the key here is.

whether Beerman should have been. released from detention pending trial. >> I am only 15. I should be worrying about. school, my friends, and normal things. people my age worry about. Instead, I. have had to deal with the fear, stress, and the consequences of something that I. never thought I would have to face. The. backlash I'm already facing has been. unbearable. I have lost friends. My. peers think that I'm disgusting. And. people make making an already difficult.

situation even harder. But what scares. me the most is that this has gone beyond. people just talking. I have already. received threats from mutuals saying. that if he is released, he will come. after me, DMs, messages to my friends. and family and post threatening me. because of me coming forward. No matter. what these threats came directly from, I. cannot I cannot just No matter who these.

threats came from directly, I cannot. just ignore them or assume that nothing. will happen. I am not only scared for my own life. anymore. I am scared for my family too. Members of my family have received. emails and phone calls because of this. situation. The people I love should not. have to be afraid or be dragged into. this because of what happened to me. Knowing that my family is being.

protected makes me feel like there is. nowhere I can completely feel safe. I. have fears that my life and my family's. lives are in danger if he gets released. The thought of him being released scares. me more than I can put into words. If he is released, I am afraid the. threats, calls, emails, and backlash. will become even worse. I do not want to. wake up every day wondering if someone. is going through to follow through on a. threat. I do not want to be scared every.

time my phone goes off, every time. someone calls my family, or every time I. leave my house. I should not have to. constantly look over my shoulder because. I am afraid for myself or someone I. love. This has already changed the way I. feel about my safety. If he is released, I am scared that the little sense of. security I have left will disappear. completely. Even if conditions are. placed of his release, the threats and. unwanted contact my family and I have. already experienced, make it extremely.

difficult for me to believe that I will. be safe. I'm not asking for revenge or. trying to punish someone. I'm asking to. be protected. I'm asking you to. understand that this decision is not. just something happening in a courtroom. It affects whether I can go home, go to. school, spend time with my family, and. live my everyday life without being. terrified of what could happen next. I'm. trying to continue with my life, but is. already extremely difficult. I should. not have to feel like speaking up as.

with my life or my family's safety in. danger. I should not have to wonder whe. staying silent would have kept the. people I love safer. Please take the. threats that I have already been made, the calls and emails my family has. already received, my age, and the fear. that my family and I are willing with. into consideration when you make your. decision. I'm asking you not to release. him on gone because I genuinely care for. my life and for the safety of my family.

if he is released. I just want to feel. safe again. I want my family to feel. safety. Thank you for listening to me. and considering public assistance. >> And it was also at this hearing when the. prosecution dropped a bombshell about KJ. Beerman's apparent criminal history. >> Your honor, as the defendant's juvenile. history, he is under supervision with. juvenile court for one count of sexual. battery against a child under 16 felony. The defendant was placed on a sentence.

for that. October 29th of 2025 is when that order. was filed in. I have spoken to the. defendant's juvenile probation officer. He was provided six special conditions. um that included a psychosocial. evaluation, a sex offender treatment. program, attend individual counseling. and follow the direct directives to. complete one juvenile class and a.

two-page handwritten essay. to complete. a vision board and to complete a risk. needs assessment. My understanding of it. is the defendant completed all of those. conditions um by July 23rd of this year. Yeah, we were kind of limited in how. much we could show you in that. courtroom, but based on reporting from. outlets like Page Six and WSBTV2, Deputy. District Attorney Caitlyn McGillicuy. told the court told the judge that. authorities apparently found videos on. KJ Beerman's phone showing him allegedly. having sex with a family member under.

the age of 12. Allegedly, multiple. encounters, describing this as quote, predatory, derogatory language toward. the victim in that case. And this was an. incident that was apparently reported in. 2023. He was apparently on probation. starting in October of 2025. And we. didn't even know about this because it. was apparently all in juvenile court. But McGilly revealed that Beerman was. previously charged with sexual battery. of a victim under the age of 16. Now. Beerman's attorney, Jason Sheffield, he. said after the hearing that this is.

being completely mischaracterized, saying, quote, "The matter arose from. inappropriate crude behavior involving. two middle schoolers. It did not result. in an adjudication for statutory rape, sexual intercourse, or any comparable. offense. But look, what are we talking. about here? KJ Beerman was granted. $200,000 bond. He has been released. And. in terms of the conditions of his bond, I broke this down. I broke this down. previously with attorney Meg Strickler. on a previous episode of Sidebar. And so. this is what you have to keep in mind.

when we talk about KJ Beerman and what. he has to do to make sure he doesn't. violate these conditions and end up back. in detention. So the judge attached this. long list of conditions to that bond. And that is where things get really. specific and what I want to talk about. So I want to get into this. I want to. break it down with somebody who knows. about this, who knows about this area of. law. I want to bring on Georgia criminal. defense attorney Meg Strickler. Meg, good to see you. thanks for coming back. here on Sidebar um to talk about this. So, let let's first start with the big.

headline here. The $200,000 bond. So, $50,000 for count one aggravated child. molestation. Uh count two aggravated. sexual battery, count three, aggravated. sodomy, and counts five and six. 20K on. count seven. Uh counts five and six and. seven are being sexual battery against a. child under the age of 16. H how does it. work? like talk to us about that. Why is. it structured that way? >> Well, each charge must have a bond.

amount attached to it or you don't get. out of jail. So, each charge has to have. one. And the more severe charges, the. aggravated sodomy and such. They're the. ones that are going to have the $50,000. bond, $20,000 bond, then false. imprisonment is a slightly lesser. charge. Um, remember in context, and. that's why it's only 10,000. So, it's. very normal to have a bond amount for. each charge. It's a requirement. Is that. amount $200,000 in total make sense to. you in general?

>> It does in general. I mean, obviously. every single case is different. Um, but. you wouldn't get below 10,000 for. aggravated sodomy or aggravated child. molestation ever. You just don't. So. getting 10,000 for that charge, which we. didn't get here, uh, is considered a. massive win. But it's normally 20,000 to. start with and it can be 50,000 and just. depends on context. And I'm going to get. into the conditions in a minute, but. generally when you look at this, because. there was an issue with the prosecutors. and you heard from the alleged victim in.

this case talking about him allegedly. being a danger to society, you know, issues of flight risk, things of that. Were you surprised that bond was granted. at all? >> Actually, no. Um I my office is in Fton. I'm in Fton right now. Uh it is a large. jurisdiction and our jail uh it's called. the Rice Street Jail is thoroughly. overcrowded. Um the juvenile facilities are. overcrowded. So as a general rule, we're. going to give somebody bond. Even. sometimes people charged with murder can.

get bond, but then they get the house. arrest. And that's what occurred here. He's on severe restrictions. He has. house arrest. >> Let's talk about that. Let's talk about. that. The conditions are he has to live. at his mother's home. >> He has to attend school virtually. >> He can't use his cell phone or social. media. Tough, you know, for a teenager. >> I can't imagine. >> Yeah. He can have direct or indirect. contact with the alleged victim or. family or close associates. He can't. have contact with anyone 16 or younger. And then there's the monitoring because.

he has to be subjected to electronic. monitoring with a 24-hour curfew except. for medical and court appearances. What. do you think about those conditions? >> Those are normal. I mean, whenever you. have um a situation like this, especially somebody who's young like. that, the social media uh and the. internet access when sex is involved, especially is sometimes curtailed. Um. and you would be really kind of. surprised. These ankle monitors are. amazingly uh accurate. So, if I walk. from here to the other side of my.

office, which is, you know, not that. large of a imprint, the monitor would. show. And so these ankle monitor reports. that the ankle monitor person who's. who's a private company, they can send. daily reports to the probation officer. who's watching this and see if what this. kid is doing. I mean, it's really really. accurate. So as why I'm going so much. detail about that is to explain that's. why the judge orders it. It's really. good in keeping track of folks. >> You know, somebody might look at this. and say, "Wait a minute. I don't. understand. He hasn't been convicted. He. he's innocent unless proven guilty. How.

is this fair to impose these conditions. on him?" Now look, on the other hand, he. would probably much prefer this than. rather spending his time behind bars. But at the same time, let's say these. charges are dropped. Let's say he's. acquitted. Is this fair? I mean, I I I I'm a criminal defense. lawyer. I've represented people. I've. char I have tried a rape case in Fton. County fairly recently, and he was on. ankle monitor for four years, not. guilty.

I mean he had four years of his life. taken away from him. It's just the. nature of the justice system. Now that's. the one side the defense side to argue. the lawyer side also. However, there's. these things called in Georgia called. the Ayala factors and there's a factors. of what a judge can give bond to. So. it's the ties to the community, danger. to the community. um you know these. kinds of things in this context in most. cases when it's aggravated child. molestation or rape those factors are. taken into consideration and that's why. you don't always get bond or you get.

these very severe restrictions because. of the severity of the charge. >> is it what about accidental violations. of these restrictions in other words. when he can't have contact with anyone. 16 or younger if he's in a store and. there's a child that comes up and goes. hi or he goes to some sort of family. event I mean How does it work in terms. of uh potential violations of this or. how um you you know is there have to be. a deliberate nature to it in some way? >> It's a great question and it happens all.

the time. I mean in the context here he. won't be going to McDonald's drive-thru. because he's not allowed to. But as a. general rule, if you're told no direct. contact with somebody, they usually use. the terminology direct contact so that. you can't initiate contact with a child. indirect contact you could you know that. I always tell my clients walk around. with your phone because it shows you. where you are at all times in addition. to your phone excuse me your ankle. monitor um so usually what occurs if one. infraction occurs two infractions occur.

whatever we have a mechanism here in. Georgia where it's an administration. excuse me administrative revocation. where the the person who's looking at. you and monitoring you will kind of say. look I see these infractions what can we. do we have problems we need to fix this. and so it doesn't always get to to the. judge just yet. Depends on the. infraction, though. So, if it's indirect. contact situation, that's not a big. deal. What gets to be a big deal is if. he contacts the victim's friend or if he. posts on social media, those things are.

highly problematic. >> So, that's what we mean by indirect. contact with I mean that that's like an. extra prec that's like you have to you. have to really be conscious about what. you're doing at all times because you. cannot it says you can't have direct or. indirect contact with the alleged victim. or family or close associates. Correct. Correct. And so it's being extreme, which it should be. And I always tell. clients, run, run, or away. And if you. happen to be at a store, gas station, whatever, because let's pretend he's. going to the doctor and he has to stop. at the gas station to get gas. He sees. somebody. Don't get gas, run away. I.

mean, just when I say run away, get in. the car and drive away. You need to be. very careful. Better safe than sorry. because you just don't want to have any. questions because it's your freedom at. risk here. Because if you get a. violation of your bonding conditions, off you go. >> Yeah. Unless there's some sort of, you. know, explanation for it. When it comes. to things like not being allowed to use. a cell phone or social media, what kind. of oversight is there for that? How. would you know?

>> Well, it's a good question. Uh, normally, and again, I don't I didn't. see it in the bond order, so I'm not. going to say this comfortably, but. normally when there are restrictions. like that, they will put software on the. computer at your expense. um that. monitors what you do and what you access. because he's allowed to use the internet. for email and he's allowed to use it for. his schooling. So, I would assume. because I always tell my clients, pay. that money for the smart uh eye uh. software. So, that again, you have. proof. You've only done school, you've.

only done email, you've put the software. on your your computer to do that. Same. thing you put on your phone, you put on. your iPad, you put on all your devices, and there are software products out. there. Uh Smart Eye or something like. that is the one I always think of, but. there are several different products. that you can pay for. And a lot of times. the judge requires it. I don't remember. seeing it in this bond order, but if I. was a defense attorney in this case, I. would say take the time to put it on. your computer. Better safe than sorry. Again, we're talking about somebody's. freedom. >> But but there is a and I'm not saying.

anybody would do this. But what about. situations where you have a family. member or friend go on for you? >> I know. I know. Well, that's the cool. thing about technology though is that if. my associate who's right next door. wanted to post on my Instagram and she. had access, that'd be problematic. because she's doing it at my office on. my service IP static IP address, you. would know it was me. >> But normally, if it's somebody else. who's like in a different part of. Georgia and logs in, you can say and. prove it rather easily by just. subpoenaing Google, Instagram, fill in.

the blank. When did the post get made. and where was it made? What was the. static IP address of when it was posted? So it's provable, fixable. >> So when I look at all these conditions, how much freedom does he have? Actually, >> I mean truthfully, none. I mean, he is. on We used to call it house arrest. We. don't tend to call it that anymore, but. I mean he is what 15 years old. Those. kids live by their phones. They're. scrolling 24/7. So that punishment is. probably the most dire for him. He's.

taken out of school now. Remember when. you were in high school? I mean, it's a. very social time. And then the third. issue is that he's not allowed to see. any friends, do any social anything. This is very restrictive. But then I. look at it from the other side. I'd. rather be that than be in a youth. detention center or jail. >> And that's a bad environment, right? I. mean, the youth detention center. >> Shudder. I shudder. Uh they're awful. And I'm not trying to It's awful is not.

even a good enough word. I mean, it's. it's. they're awful. They're scary. They're. just like jails. They really are. >> So, again, things to keep in mind as he. awaits trial. Now, as we wait to see. what happens next in this case, one of. the things we also want to make note of. is the prosecution. has been petitioning the court to. conduct these forensic examinations with. minors in this case. They wrote in a. filing, quote, "The state will profer a. good faith basis for concern regarding.

additional minors who require forensic. interviews related to this case. To the. extent the court must consider video. evidence and receive a profer by counsel. related to potential victims, the state. requests the same be done in camera or. in a closed courtroom with counsel for. defendant present. The video evidence is. explicit in nature and should be. reviewed and considered under seal. We. don't know who these people are, what. their role would be in this case. the. potential evidentiary value, but clearly. it is significant for the prosecution.

It's significant enough for them to do. this. So, we'll keep a careful eye on. what happens next. Thank you so much for. joining us here on Sidebar. Please like. and subscribe. I'm Jesse Weber. Speak to. you next time.