Jalen Kitna's Charges Dropped in Plea Deal

Former Florida Gators quarterback Jalen Kitna had five child pornography charges dropped on Wednesday as part of a plea deal.

Kitna was very publicly arrested in November in Gainesville on two counts of distribution of child exploitation material and three counts of possession of child pornography.

He was released after posting bond and returned to his family's home in Burleson, Texas in the days following the arrest.

Kitna was also dismissed from the Gators shortly after the incident, putting an end to a brief career for the Orange & Blue. After redshirting during the 2021 season, Kitna made four appearances in 2022 logging 181 passing yards and a touchdown.

In Wednesday's hearing, Kitna read a statement in the front of the Alachua County courthouse.

“I want to start off by apologizing to my family, my friends and those that care about me,” Kitna said. “Their support through this whole ordeal has meant a lot to me. The hardest thing about this whole process has been seeing how it’s affected them."

Among those in attendance were Kitna's mother and father, the latter of whom is former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna.

With the plea deal, Kitna will not need to serve any jail time nor will he be registered as a sex offender. Instead, Eighth Judicial Circuit Judge Susan Miller-Jones placed him under a one year probation, which could be reduced to six months if the he abides by the conditions of parole.

The deal resulted in Kitna pleading no contest to two misdemeanor counts of breach of the peace.

In terms of what the future may hold, Kitna is currently taking classes online. Following the incident he was banned from the University of Florida campus effective through November 2025.

He continues to hold collegiate eligibility if he wants to make an attempt at resuming his playing career, but he will have quite a hard time finding a program willing to give him a chance.

GatorBait is actively investigating Kitna's options and whether or not he plans to return to the field.