Florida quarterback Jalen Kitna was set to be released from jail on $80,000 bond Thursday, one day after his arrest on suspicion of distributing child exploitation material in Gainesville, Fla., according to the Associated Press.
Kitna is the 19-year-old son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna and served as a backup quarterback for the Gators this season. Under the terms of release, Jalen Kitna was ordered by circuit court judge Meshon T. Rawls not to have unsupervised visits with minors or access to the internet. Kitna was suspended indefinitely by the Gators on Wednesday.
Kitna made a 75-minute court appearance via closed-circuit video from Alachua County Jail on Thursday. His parents, Jon and Jennifer Kitna, attended the hearing at the county courthouse. They assured Rawls that they would supervise Jalen at their home in Burleson, Texas, upon his release.
Two of the five charges Kitna faces are second-degree felonies, which can result in a prison term of up to 15 years and a fine of up to $10,000, according to the AP. The three remaining charges are third-degree felonies.
Also on Thursday, the Gainesville Police Department released Kitna’s arrest report, which provided further information about the allegations he faces.
Kitna is accused of possessing and sharing five images of child sex abuse, including one image of an adult man raping a prepubescent girl. Kitna told authorities he thought the images were legal because he discovered them online.
Additionally, the quarterback told the police that he was a part of other messaging groups on a different “social media platform that distributed similar material,” the AP reported.
Police say Kitna allegedly shared two of the images on Discord in June. Discord flagged the material and canceled his account, according to the police report. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children subsequently received a tip from Discord, and an investigation by Gainesville police led to Kitna.
