College of Florida quarterback Jalen Kitna was charged Wednesday with distributing youngster exploitation materials, accused of sharing photos of sexual abuse on the messaging platform Discord, authorities mentioned.
Kitna, 19, faces two counts of the crime and three counts of possession of kid pornography, Gainesville police mentioned in an announcement.
The college’s College Athletic Affiliation mentioned Kitna, a freshman, was suspended indefinitely from its soccer program.
“We’re shocked and saddened to listen to of the information involving Jalen Kitna,” the affiliation mentioned. “These are extraordinarily critical costs and the College of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such conduct.”
A college spokesman mentioned the varsity had no additional remark.
Kitna is the son of former NFL quarterback Jon Kitna, now the pinnacle soccer coach at Burleson Excessive College in Texas. Jon Kitna did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
The Nationwide Middle for Lacking and Exploited Youngsters alerted native authorities Wednesday that somebody shared a picture depicting youngster abuse on Discord, the police division mentioned.
Investigators linked the pictures to a house in Gainesville and located the 2 photos have been shared by an account that most probably belonged to Kitna, the division mentioned.
In an interview with police, Kitna mentioned he believed the images have been authorized as a result of he discovered them on-line, the police division mentioned. He informed authorities he should not have shared them based mostly on the response of the person he shared them with, it mentioned.
Kitna mentioned his account was deactivated for violating the platform’s phrases of service, police mentioned.
A preliminary evaluation of Kitna’s units discovered three different photos depicting youngster sexual abuse, in accordance with the police division.
Kitna remained in custody Wednesday, courtroom data present. It wasn’t instantly clear whether or not he has a lawyer to talk on his behalf.
Discord did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
