The University of Florida booted quarterback Jalen Kitna from the team following his arrest on child pornography charges, which police said included one image of a man having sex with a young girl.
Kitna, 19, was released on an $80,000 bond on Thursday and ordered to have no unsupervised contact with minors and to stay off the internet. After court, he returned to his hometown in Texas with his parents, former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna and his wife Jennifer, WJAX reported.
The station said Kitna sobbed into his hands during his court appearance and was wearing a solid green smock usually worn by inmates under close watch because of welfare concerns.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Kitna shared two image of child pornography via his Discord account and promptly had his account suspended. He told investigators he thought the images were “legal” because he 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,” police said, adding that figured someone reported him when his Discord account was deactivated.
Investigators found three more images on his electronic devices — photos that showed two nude young girls in a shower. His attorney, Caleb Kenyon, told the court on Thursday the images could be considered child erotica instead of child porn.
Kitna was suspended from the team on Wednesday after his arrest and dismissed from the team the following day, WJAX said.
He has been charged with two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography, although the charges have no been finalized by the state attorney’s office. Kitna faces up to 15 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 if he’s convicted on the distribution charges, which are second degree felonies. The other three charges are third degree felonies.
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[Featured image: Jalen Kitna/Alachua County Jail]
