Photos: Jalen Kitner; Alex Shepard
renew: Florida Gators Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Jalen Kittner Posted a $80,000 bond, according to Edgar Thompson of the Orlando Sentinel and was released from the Alachua County Jail Thursday night.
Kitna is no longer listed as a “person in custody,” and his profile has been removed from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office prisoner search, according to the Alachua County Circuit Court clerk.
Kitna’s bail was set at her first court appearance on Thursday. He faces five preliminary charges related to child pornography: two counts of second-degree distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of third-degree possession of child pornography.
renew: Florida Gators Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Jalen Kittner He made his first appearance in Alachua County Court on Thursday after being arrested Wednesday on five preliminary felony charges related to possession and distribution of child pornography.
Kitna appeared on a video stream from the Alachua County Jail. His parents, Jon and Jennifer Kitna, and his priest all appeared in court.
Kitna’s bond was set at $80,000, according to WUFT-Gainesville, although his attorney, Caleb Kenyon, requested that Kitna be released without bail, claiming that no one was directly harmed by Kitna’s alleged actions.
Kitna previously admitted to sharing two images containing child sexual abuse material on the social media site Discord in an interview with Gainesville Police Department Detective Donna Montague. A search warrant for Kitna on Wednesday found three other images of child sexual abuse material in his possession after an initial analysis of Kitna’s electronic devices.
Alachua County Court Judge Meshon T. Rawls denied Kenyon’s request and ordered Kitna not to use the Internet or have unsupervised contact with minors.
If convicted on those charges — the state attorney’s office will decide in the coming weeks whether to formally file criminal charges, after his initial charge read out three counts of possessing child pornography and two counts of distributing child exploitation material — Kitna Faces up to 45 years in prison and a $35,000 fine.
Kitna was wearing a dark green sleeveless gown, which indicated he was on suicide watch during his court appearance, according to WUFT officials.
renew: Florida Gators Redshirt Freshman Quarterback Jalen Kittner was charged Wednesday with three counts of possessing child pornography and two counts of distributing child exploitation material, the latter two charges being second-degree felonies, according to a statement from the Gainesville Police Department.
A search warrant was served at Kitner’s Gainesville residence Wednesday morning after receiving an online tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, according to a police statement.
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Investigating further, Gainesville Police Department Detective Donna Montague discovered that two images containing child sexual abuse material were shared from Kitner’s address to the social media site Discord. The investigation also revealed that the likely Discord account holder was Kitna.
Kitna’s electronic devices were seized as part of the search warrant. Following an initial analysis of the devices, three additional images of child sexual abuse material were found.
UF issued the following statement Wednesday afternoon, acknowledging that Kitna had been suspended indefinitely.
“We are appalled and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna. These are extremely serious allegations and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such conduct.
“Jaylen has been suspended indefinitely.”
Florida Gators redshirt freshman quarterback Jalen Kittner Checked into the Alachua County Jail at 3:20 p.m. ET on Wednesday, November 30.
No charges were immediately laid against Kitna’s arrest.
Kitna, son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitner, signed with Florida State as part of the 2021 recruiting class.He didn’t play during his true freshman season, but came off the bench as the starting signal-caller anthony richardson In the 2022 season, he appeared in four games, completing 10 of 14 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown.
While Richardson missed several games with an injury, Kitner came on in a clutch first-half game against FSU.
The backup kept the offense going in Richardson’s absence — despite not recording a pass — as he converted two thirds down the field and drove the ball into the red zone on his own 6-yard dash. That set up a go-ahead touchdown pass for Richardson’s return to make it 14-7 in the first quarter.
If Richardson opts out of the NFL draft program with the redshirted sophomore, the Burleson (Texas) high school product is expected to compete for a starting spot at least this offseason Jack Miller IIIreal freshmen Max Brownfreshman quarterback Jaden Rashada and a potential transfer portal added.
This story will be updated as more details emerge.
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