Some very disturbing news came out of Gainesville, Florida on Wednesday as Florida Gators quarterback Jalen Kitna, son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, has been arrested on charges of possession and distribution of child pornography.
According to Sports Illustrated, the Gainesville Police Department executed a search warrant on Kitna’s apartment on Wednesday morning. He has been charged with two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography.
Authorities executed a search of Florida QB Jalen Kitna’s apartment with cause that it contained evidence of (1) child porn & (2) distribution of child porn.
Kitna has been booked in the county jail on child porn charges.
UF has suspended him, per statement to @SINow (below) pic.twitter.com/oSX0DjOSQ7
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) November 30, 2022
Meanwhile, Kitna has been suspended indefinitely from the Florida football program, according to a university spokesperson.
Statement from the UAA re Jalen Kitna: “We are shocked and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna. These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior. Jalen has been suspended indefinitely.”
— Mark Long (@APMarkLong) November 30, 2022
“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna,” read the statement. “These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior. Jalen has been suspended indefinitely.”
The 19-year-old was reportedly arrested following a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The tip stated that a Discord user was distributing child sexual abuse material through the online chat platform. The account was connected to Kitna.
Kitna shares the apartment with two other people but neither of them was arrested. Kitna was booked in the Alachua County jail Wednesday afternoon.
According to a GPD press release, Kitna told a detective that he remembered sharing two images that he thought were legal because he had found them online.
“Kitna advised that he realized he should not have shared those two images, based on the reaction from the other Discord user that he shared them with. Kitna advised shortly after that, his Discord account was deactivated and that he assumed someone reported him to Discord. Kitna stated that he received an email from Discord stating that his account was deactivated due to violation of the terms of service.”
GPD also says that when they seized Kitna’s electronic devices, they found three additional images of “child sexual abuse material.”
A redshirt freshman this season, Kitna appeared in four games for the Gators, completing 10 of 14 passes for 181 yards and one touchdown.
