GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Florida has formally dismissed quarterback Jalen Kitna from the team following his arrest on five child pornography charges.
The Gators scrubbed Kitna’s name from their roster and his biography from their website late Thursday, just hours after Kitna’s first court appearance. Kitna was released from jail on an $80,000 bond and ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors and no internet access.
Kitna, 19, returned with his parents, retired NFL quarterback Jon Kitna and wife Jennifer, to Burleson, Texas.
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Kitna sobbed into his hands during his 75-minute court appearance, which included attorneys on both sides arguing bond details and conditions of his release. He wore a solid green smock typically given to inmates being kept under close watch because of welfare concerns.
The Gainesville Police Department released Kitna’s arrest report Thursday, providing graphic details about the complaints filed against him.
Police said Kitna shared two images of young girls being sexually abused via the social media platform Discord, including one of a man having sex with a young girl.
According to the arrest report, Kitna told police he thought they were legal because he found them online.
The report shows Kitna also told police “he might have accidentally downloaded child sexual abuse material but would immediately delete it” and “he has been struggling with controlling his interests.”
Police 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 in December 2021. The report did not estimate the ages of the girls. Kitna’s lawyer Caleb Kenyon argued those three images could be considered child erotica instead of child porn.
Two of the five arresting charges, which still need to be formalized by the state attorney’s office, are second-degree felonies. The other three are third-degree felonies
“There will be a challenge to his statements. You can expect that if the statements are what they are, and if they are damaging to the cases, lawyers will do everything they can regarding their statements and whether or not they were lawfully or unlawfully obtained,” said defense attorney Gene Nichols, who is not associated with the case.
Nichols expects prosecutors to use Kitna’s words as leverage against him. He told News4JAX on Friday that Kitna’s lawyers will likely argue that Kitna is suffering from a mental health problem and is in treatment for his health issue.
“You’re going to have your client meet with a therapist,” Nichols said. “You’re then going to use the therapist’s report, how your client does with the evaluations, how they do with the therapy and the treatment, as mitigation to try and mitigate as best as you possibly can what is typically a severe punishment for such a crime.”
News4JAX asked Nicholas if Kitna’s high-profile status would impact his case in any way. Nichols said he’s confident Kitna won’t get any preferential treatment — but instead — will endure more scrutiny.
“In a case like this, because not only is it high profile, but we’re dealing with such serious charges, you can fully expect the state attorney’s office to be very wary of extending any deals because he’s a football player or to give any deals because of any other reasons,” Nichols said. “They are going to want to treat him the same as they would any other individual who is facing a similar crime.”
The Gators suspended Kitna following his arrest on Wednesday and took the step of dismissing him a day later.
Kitna appeared in four games as a redshirt freshman for the Gators this season. He completed 10 of his 14 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown.
Kitna also is being represented by Gainesville attorney Ron Kozlowski as well as noted Jacksonville attorney Hank Coxe, who has a history of taking on cases involving high-profile athletes.
Coxe spoke to News4JAX briefly by phone on Friday, saying only this about Kitna’s arrest: “This is a personal family matter and that’s how we are dealing with it.”