On Wednesday, Jalen Kitna, 19, University of Florida backup quarterback was arrested. He was charged with five felony counts of having child sexual abuse material (CSAM). This includes three counts of possession and two counts of distribution of child exploitation material.

After his arrest in Gainesville, Florida he was held overnight in the Alachua County Jail. 

On Thursday his father, Jon Kitner retired Dallas Cowboys quarterback testified at his son’s court hearing.

Jon Kitna and his wife, Jennifer, both testified at the bail hearing. They posted bail and told the court they would take their son home to Texas. And promised they would make sure he is present at all relevant court dates.

Jon is an NFL veteran whose football career spanned from 1997 to 2011. He played four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks. He played five seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals. And three with the Detroit Lions.

 He played two final seasons with the Dallas Cowboys in Texas, where he now coaches high school football.

Images CSAM shared online

Gainesville police said in a Facebook press release that they received a cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that an “image of child sexual abuse material (CSAM)” was shared. Two images were distributed through the Discord social media platform from an account that belonged to Jalen Kitna.

Detective Donna Montague interviewed Jalen. He said he remembered sharing the two CSAM images but “believed them to be “legal” since he found them online.” 

According to the Detectives’ report, he later realized “he should not have shared those two images, based on the reaction from the other Discord user that he shared them with. Kitna advised shortly after that, his Discord account was deactivated and that he assumed someone reported him to Discord. Kitna stated that he received an email from Discord stating that his account was deactivated due to a violation of the terms of service.”

Jalen attended Frisco's Reedy High School. And in 2021 graduated from Burleson High School where his father, Jon, is the head football coach.

Florida Gators football team suspended Kitna from the squad within an hour of his initial arrest.

Within hours of the arrest, the University of Florida's Athletic Department released a statement.

“We are shocked and saddened to hear of the news involving Jalen Kitna. These are extremely serious charges and the University of Florida and the UAA have zero tolerance for such behavior. Jalen has been suspended indefinitely from the football program."