Ex-Florida QB Jalen Kitna charged with two misdemeanor counts from child pornography case

Former Florida quarterback Jalen Kitna has reached a plea deal with prosecutors after his arrest for child pornography in November 2022.

The son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, Jalen Kitna will be charged with two second-degree misdemeanor counts of breach of peace, according to the Orlando Sentinel. He had previously been charged with five felony counts of possession of child pornography.

Kitna was placed on six months probation, but he was not fined nor was he required to register as a sex offender.

The former Florida quarterback issued a statement in a Gainesville court room on Wednesday.

“I want to start off by apologizing to my family, my friends and those that care about me,” Kitna said, per the Sentinel. “Their support through this whole ordeal has meant a lot to me. The hardest thing about this whole process has been seeing how it’s affected them.

“The valuable lessons that I’ve learned through this whole deal have been very helpful. I’m looking forward to applying those things and moving forward.”

Kitna was originally hit with two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography in late November.

The Alachua Chronicle reported that the Gainesville Police Department received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that someone in the area was using the online messaging service Discord to distribute an image of child sexual abuse.

The report stated that Kitna’s electronic devices were seized after he told police two images he believed to be “legal” were shared from his account before it was deactivated. Kitna reportedly told police he found the images online.

Kitna was a reserve quarterback for Florida before his dismissal from the team.

In limited action across four games with the Gators, he has completed 10-of-14 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown.