


Former Florida quarterback Jalen Kitna has reached an agreement with prosecutors in his child pornography case.
Kitna pleaded no contest to one count of misdemeanor breach of the peace, disorderly conduct in Alachua County, Fla. on Wednesday, in exchange for the court dropping the five felony charges for possession and distribution of child pornography that he had been facing, according to TMZ.
“I’ve learned some very valuable lessons. I will apply these lessons to my life moving forward,” he told the court after the plea, and apologized to his family and friends.
Kitna is the son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna.
Jalen, who at the time was a backup quarterback for Florida, was arrested last November and accused of sharing explicit images of prepubescent girls on Discord.
Reportedly, the Gainesville Police Department got tipped off by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that a photo of child sexual abuse had been shared on Discord.
Eventually, the account was traced to Kitna, and multiple more illicit images were found on his devices.
One of the photos Kitna shared allegedly included an adult male having sex with a prepubescent girl.
According to TMZ, Kitna’s defense maintained throughout the case that he believed that the girls in the images he shared were of age.
In a statement, Kitna’s lawyer Ron Kozlowski called the arrangement with prosecutors “a correct and fair result in this case” and added that “the state clearly agrees.”
Kitna appeared in four games for the Gators last season.
“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna,” the school said in a statement when Kitna was arrested in November. “These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior.”
Kitna was subsequently released from the team.