Should Jalen Kitna Have Been Required To Register as a Sex Offender?
Most people know by now that the attorneys for the University of Florida’s backup quarterback Jalen Kitna cut a deal with the state attorney’s office so that there was no prison time (only 6 months of probation for each of the two second-degree misdemeanor counts of disorderly conduct, possibly being released from the second set of probation if he follows the terms of the plea agreement). But the most important break that the prosecutor gave Kitna was that he does NOT have to register as a sex offender.
NPR WUFT in Gainesville, Florida, looked at more than 1,000 cases finding “…there have been seven others in Alachua County since 1996 charged with exactly five counts of possession or distribution of CP – just like Kitna – but only two of the seven had otherwise clean records before they were swept up in the legal system.”
One received a two-year prison sentence with four years of sex offender probation and was required to register as a sex offender. The other person was sentenced to four years in prison and required to register as a sex offender.
Gainesville, Florida, ABC TV 20 interviewed the state attorney’s office for an explanation of why Kitna was not sent to prison or placed on the sex offender registry.
Unlike most people charged with CP who have to rely on a public defense attorney who is grossly overworked, Kitna had a family that could provide two defense attorneys: one from Gainesville and one from Jacksonville.
In the New York Times 2019 article, “The Internet Is Overrun with Images of Child Sexual Abuse. What Went Wrong?” (paywall) by Michael H. Keller and Gabriel J. X. Dance, CP was found to be not doubling or tripling but growing exponentially.
The New York Times article stated: In 2018, “tech companies reported over 45 million online photos and videos of children being sexually abused – more than double what they found the previous year. Twenty years ago, the online images were a problem; 10 years ago, an epidemic. Now, the crisis is at a breaking point.” Conclusion: What we are doing is not working.
Do we feel that a harsher sentence would better serve the cause of justice? Some of our FAC members have stated at our website that they felt the sentence should have been harsher. Or would justice be served by seeing more such plea deals, rather than fewer, if defendants pose a low risk to re-offend?
The sexual recidivism rate also needs to be considered in making research-based policies: The U.S. Sentencing Commission’s Report: Federal Sentencing of Child Pornography Offenses, June 29, 2021 found that “recidivism events by non-production CP offenders released or placed on probation in 2015, after a three-years follow-up period was 4.3%…the lowest recidivism rate for all criminal offenses.”
The United States is leaning toward harsher and harsher sentences as we live in a country where punishment is often considered the only way to change one’s bad behavior, unlike Canada and Europe that place a greater emphasis on prevention and rehabilitation.
Regardless of how one feels about Kitna’s sentence, one thing we can agree upon is that requiring people to register as a sex offender is doing nothing to make society safer — a statement backed up by research.
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Besides Kitna’s attorney from Gainesville, Florida, he also had Hank Coxe from Jacksonville, Florida, representing him. I have to wonder what kind of plea deal the rest of us would have received if we had had the money to hire both of these attorneys.
Hank Coxe’s credentials: https://www.bedellfirm.com/attorney/henry-m-coxe-iii/
@Education
EXACTLY! I was run out of money and had to take a guilty plea. Only 3 out of the 10 charges did I actually do. Once the money ran out from bonding out and the lawyers fees, I was never offered a public defender. I plead for mercy but was given a 30 year sentence. When I did 10 of it, I went on a 3rd appeal and finally won but was still on registry for life.
Same reason Ron Book and Matt Gaetz’ D.U.I. charges magically went away. It’s not what you did, it’s who you KNOW.
[Moderator’s note: Ron Book pled to a lesser charge, a common practice with which many FAC members are familiar. Matt Gaetz was not charged].
I have read the comments here and I understand that “crabs in the bucket” way of thinking that some have… “hey! If I have to register then so should this guy”. Well, I have to register, but I don’t want anyone else to register. Am I envious of Jalen Kitna and the deal he got? You bet. Do I wish I had his deal? Of course. Do I wish that Jalen Kitna did NOT get the deal he got? Not at all! I was very happy when I heard about the deal he got, and I hope that the next guy gets the same deal, and the next guy, and the next guy, etc. I hope everyone from this day forward gets that same deal. Of course, I know they won’t. But… perhaps Jalen Kitna getting this deal gives a little bit of ammo/argument for that next guy, and the next, and the next, etc., to get a similar deal.
I wish everyone here would look at this guy’s deal as a victory rather than a slap in the face. Outsiders (i.e. non-registered persons) might read all the comments here and come to the conclusion that even registered persons themselves think that some people should be on the registries. Well, I for one do NOT think that anyone should ever have to be on the registry. That goes for myself, Jalen Kitna, you, and everyone else forced to register. Perhaps we need to look at Jalen Kitna in a positive way rather than an envious way. Even when a dam bursts, it always starts with a small trickle of a leak, then those trickles get larger and larger… you get the picture.
My only concern with Jalen Kitna’s deal is that he does not end up re-offending. If he does, then that would fuel those that think that the registry is necessary.
So, as a registered person, ask yourself this… “Am I really unhappy that someone is NOT on the registry?”