Kitna has child porn charges dropped in plea deal

Last updated: 2023/07/05 at 10:47 PM

BigP Published July 5, 2023

Alex Scarborough, ESPN Staff WriterJul 5, 2023, 03:56 PM ET
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- Covers the SEC.
- Joined ESPN in 2012.
- Graduate of Auburn University.

Five felony child pornography charges were dropped against former Florida Gators quarterback Jalen Kitna on Wednesday as part of a deal that resulted in him pleading no contest to two misdemeanor counts of breach of the peace.

Kitna, the sophomore son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, will not be required to register as a sex offender and will not serve jail time.

He was sentenced to one year probation, which could be reduced to six months if he complies with the conditions of his parole.

Kitna was arrested Nov. 30 on five felony child pornography charges — two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography — after police received a tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a user had distributed an image of child sexual abuse material on Discord, a social media platform.

The investigation found Kitna to be the probable owner of the account, which shared two images of young girls being sexually abused. Police say they found three additional images of nude young women on Kitna’s phone.

Kitna on Wednesday apologized in court to “my family, friends and the people that care about me.”

“I’m thankful for all of their support during this time,” Kitna said from a statement. “Watching how this has affected the ones closest to me has been the most difficult during this process. I’ve learned some very valuable lessons. I will apply these lessons to my life moving forward. With my family’s support and love, I am thankful I can now put this behind me.”

Kitna was immediately dismissed from the team following his arrest and was banned 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.”