Florida Gators QB Jalen Kitna arrested on child pornography charges, suspended by school

Backup Florida Gators quarterback Jalen Kitna has been arrested on two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography, according to a Gainesville Police Department release.

According to the release, Kitna was interviewed by Gainesville Police detectives regarding the sharing of images on his Discord account and told them that he believed the two images to be legal since he found them online.

Kitna said he realized he should not have shared those two images, based on the reaction from the other Discord user that he shared them with. Shortly after sharing the images, Kitna said his Discord account was deactivated and that he assumed someone reported him to Discord.

Kitna stated that he received an email from Discord stating that his account was deactivated due to a violation of the terms of service. That was later confirmed by an email from Discord.

As part of a GPD search warrant, Kitna’s electronic devices were seized, and preliminary analysis of the devices revealed three additional images of child sexual abuse material.

Kitna was booked in the Alachua County Jail at 3:20 p.m. Wednesday. He has been suspended indefinitely by the Gators.

“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna," UF's athletic department said in a statement. "These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior. Jalen has been suspended indefinitely.”

Kitna, the son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, had moved up from third to second in the depth chart behind Anthony Richardson during the course of the season. He appeared in Florida's last regular season against Florida State after Richardson lost his helmet and ran five plays, which included a 5-yard rush. For the season, Kitna passed for 181 yards and 1 TD, coming in relief against Eastern Washington.