Jon Kitna Testifies at Son Jalen’s Child Porn Case Hearing

Former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna appeared in a Florida courtroom on Thursday morning to testify in his son Jalen’s child pornography case. According to TMZ Sports, Kitna told the judge that if his son was granted bail, he would make sure Jalen returned for every required hearing going forward. This happened less than 24 hours after Jalen was arrested in Gainsville, Florida for possession of child porn. 

Jon and his wife told the judge that Jalen would live with them in Texas as long as he was out on pre-trial release. The judge set Jalen’s bond at $80,000 and ordered him that he can’t use the internet or have unsupervised contact with minors. Jalen, a quarterback for the Florida Gators, has been hit with five felony charges in the case. He has been suspended indefinitely from the team. 

“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna,” the University of Florida Athletic Association said in a statement, per ESPN. “These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior.”  

Police received a tip from the National Center for Missing Exploited Children that a user had distributed an image of child sexual abuse material on a social media platform called Discord. It was revealed that Jalen was the probable owner of the Discord account, and he told officers that the images he shared we “legal” because he shared them online. When police searched Kitna’s electronic devices, they found three more images of child sexual abuse material. 

Jalen Kitna was the backup QB for the Gators this season and played in four games. He completed 10 of his 14 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown during the 2022 season. According to 247Sports, Jalen was a three-star prospect coming out of Burleson High School in Burleson Texas and was the 55th-ranked QB in the country for the class of 2021. 

Jon Kitna played in the NFL from 1996-2011, 2013 and was a member of the Seattle Seahawks, Cincinnati Bengals, Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys. In his NFL career, Kitna played in 141 games and threw for 29,745 yards, 169 touchdowns and 165 interceptions. He is currently the head coach at Burleson High School.