Ex-Florida QB Jalen Kitna agrees to plea deal that drops 5 felony child porn charges

Updated Jul. 5, 2023 3:21 p.m. ET

Associated Press

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Ex-Florida quarterback Jalen Kitna, the son of retired NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, accepted a plea deal Wednesday that dismissed five felony child pornography charges stemming from his arrest last November.

Kitna instead pleaded guilty to two counts of disorderly conduct, second-degree misdemeanors.

Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge Susan Miller-Jones placed Kitna on six months' probation for each count but did not levy a fine or require the 20-year-old to register as a sex offender.

Kitna, with his mother and father sitting behind him, read a statement of contrition.

“I want to start off by apologizing to my family, my friends and those that care about me,” Kitna said. “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.”

The Gainesville Police Department arrested Kitna on Nov. 30, 2022, on five felony child pornography charges — two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography.

Police said Kitna shared two images of young girls being sexually abused via a social media platform. Officers later searched his phone and found three more images of two nude young girls in a shower — photos that had been saved to Kitna’s phone a year earlier. The report did not estimate the ages of the girls.

The Gators dismissed Kitna from the team days after his arrest. Kitna returned home with his family to Burleson, Texas, after posting bond and completed online classes this past spring. The university banned him from campus until November 2025.

“What we’ve got here today is a result that’s fair, and the right result,” Kitna's attorney, Ron Kozlowski told the Orlando Sentinel following the verdict. “Obviously the state agrees, and we feel good about that. This is going give Jalen an opportunity to move on to the next step, whatever that is.”

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