District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan released information Monday about the death of a Lehigh County Jail inmate.

Kevin Esterly, 53, of Whitehall Township, was found by jail staff shortly before 1:30 a.m. in a single jail cell. Esterly was unresponsive and found hanging by a bedsheet that had been tied to his top bed bunk.

Correctional officers and the jail’s medical staff immediately rendered aid until Allentown EMS arrived.

Esterly was pronounced dead around 2:16 a.m. this morning in the emergency department of an area hospital.

An autopsy was concluded today and Lehigh County Coroner ruled Esterly died from hanging and his death was ruled a suicide.

There was no indication Esterly was taking medication for nor diagnosed with a mental health issue.

Esterly was in a single cell because a fellow inmate had recently been moved to another area of the jail.

Esterly’s death has been investigated by the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force.

In March, Esterly was convicted of all charges related to a child rape investigation. Esterly was scheduled to be sentenced and have a hearing to determine whether he met the legal criteria to be deemed a sexually-violent predator on June 30, and faced a possible sentence of 43.5 years to 87 years in state prison. He would have also been required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

On Feb. 21, 2025, a report was filed with Allentown Police regarding a juvenile sexual assault that occurred over an extended period of time beginning in the summer of 2016 and ending in March 2018. The name of the victim will not be released, but her partial date of birth is 12/2001.

During interviews with police, the victim reported that she was first introduced to Esterly when she was 8 years old. Esterly was the stepfather of the victim’s juvenile friend.

The victim told investigators she began spending a lot of time with the friend, including spending weekends and summers at the Esterly home. The friend’s family later moved to a home in Lowhill Township, Lehigh County.

In 2018, Esterly was convicted of corruption of minors as a misdemeanor of the first degree and sentenced to 2 ½ to 5 years in prison involving a case with the same victim. In that case, Esterly and the victim were returned from Mexico following his flight from the Lehigh Valley.

The victim disclosed last year that the abuse inflicted by Esterly was more significant than she initially disclosed. Esterly provided her with alcohol at a family birthday party and raped her when she was 14 years old.

The victim said Esterly sexually assaulted her almost every time she slept over at the home. These disclosures were not included in the 2018 prosecution.

The victim said Esterly also provided her with alcohol and drugs in the course of the sexual assault. Esterly was taken into custody on June 11, 2025 in West Virginia after two vehicle pursuits.