Esterly, 53, was pronounced dead at 2:16 a.m. in the emergency department at St. Luke's Hospital-Allentown Campus after being found unresponsive in his single cell at the jail, according to Lehigh County Coroner Daniel A. Buglio.
District Attorney Gavin Holihan said Esterly was found shortly before 1:30 a.m. hanging by a bedsheet tied to the top bunk in his cell. Correctional officers and jail medical staff immediately rendered aid until Allentown EMS arrived and transported him to the hospital.
An autopsy was completed Monday, and Buglio ruled the manner of death suicide.
Prosecutors said Esterly was housed alone because another inmate had recently been moved to a different area of the jail. There was no indication Esterly had been diagnosed with or was taking medication for a mental health condition, according to the district attorney's office.
The Lehigh County District Attorney's Office and coroner's office are investigating. Esterly's death was also investigated by the Lehigh County Homicide Task Force.
The disturbing allegations first emerged when the victim came forward to police in February 2025, saying Esterly had sexually abused her for years, beginning when she was a child.
**WARNING THE FOLLOWING IS DISTURBING**
The woman told detectives that she was just 8 when she met Esterly through his stepdaughter at church — and he groomed her over the years, offering gifts, booze, and drugs before sexually assaulting her in his basement while she slept.
According to an affidavit previously obtained by Daily Voice, the victim began spending weekends and summers at Esterly’s home in Lowhill Township, where he held positions of trust as a church group leader and youth soccer coach.
By age 13, said Esterly was regularly raping her — starting with a terrifying assault during a birthday party at his Lowhill Township home. She recalled waking up drunk and disoriented on a bean bag chair with Esterly on top of her, his penis inside her, while he grunted and sweated, the affidavit says. She pretended to be asleep out of fear. She said the assaults continued for years and occurred almost every time she slept over at Esterly’s home.
What followed, she said, was a years-long cycle of sexual abuse, manipulation, and addiction. Esterly allegedly forced her to perform sex acts almost every time she stayed over, even while she was on her period — telling her she couldn’t get pregnant that way, according to court documents.
The woman told police that Esterly introduced her to meth at 13 to keep her awake for school after staying up all night with him. She said he bought her methamphetamine in exchange for sex — and that she later began sending him nude photos via Snapchat to get more drugs.
When Esterly separated from his wife in 2017, he rented an apartment in Allentown just blocks from the girl’s house. She said he regularly picked her up from school to take her there or to his truck, where they would get high and have sex, the affidavit says.
The girl said Esterly made her save his number as “Nivek” — his first name spelled backward — and used the same alias on Snapchat and Facebook to hide their contact.
She said he told her: “It’s our little secret,” and insisted she call him “daddy.” When she cried or resisted, he allegedly bought her gifts and professed his love. She told detectives she felt guilty and terrified to tell anyone — especially after seeing him become physically violent with his wife.
These details were not disclosed during Esterly’s earlier prosecution connected to the pair’s international disappearance.
**WARNING THE ABOVE IS DISTURBING**
Esterly first made national headlines in 2018 when he fled to Cancun with the same teenager after signing her out of school in the Lehigh Valley.
Authorities later found the pair in Mexico following an international search.
The teen was returned home safely. She later graduated from a state university, where she mentored other foster youth and earned a degree in hospitality, according to the school.
Esterly was returned to Pennsylvania and ultimately pleaded guilty to corruption of minors, receiving a sentence of two-and-a-half to five years in prison.
Prosecutors said the victim later revealed the abuse was far more extensive than what was initially disclosed during that case.
Following the renewed investigation by Pennsylvania State Police and Allentown police, Esterly was taken into custody in West Virginia on June 11, 2025, after two police pursuits, according to the district attorney’s office.
A jury convicted Esterly, 53, of rape, statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviate sexual intercourse, and endangering the welfare of children following a trial that began with jury selection on Monday, March 3.
Esterly had been scheduled to be sentenced on June 30 before Judge James Anthony and to face a hearing on whether he met the legal criteria to be designated a sexually violent predator. He faced a possible sentence of 43.5 to 87 years in state prison and lifetime sex offender registration.
This announcement comes the same day as two other inmates' suicides were announced in the Northampton County Prison. Click here to read that report.
Click here to follow Daily Voice and receive free news updates.
