Kevin Esterly was convicted on multiple counts including child rape, statutory sexual assault and endangering the welfare of children, according to Lehigh County District Attorney's Office and Pennsylvania State Police Troop M.
ALLENTOWN, Pa. - Kevin Esterly was convicted on multiple counts including child rape, statutory sexual assault and endangering the welfare of children, according to Lehigh County District Attorney's Office and Pennsylvania State Police Troop M.
Jury finds Whitehall Township man guilty of child rape
What we know:
Esterly, 53, was found guilty on all charges including Rape, Statutory Sexual Assault, Involuntary Deviate Sexual Intercourse and Endangering the Welfare of Children – Parent/Guardian/Another Commits Offense after a jury trial that began March 3, 2026.
Prosecutors said the abuse started in the summer of 2016 and continued until March 2018, with the victim first meeting Esterly when she was 8 years old.
The victim, who was born in December 2001, disclosed last year that the abuse was more severe than previously reported.
Timeline of the investigation and charges
A report was filed with Allentown Police on Feb. 21, 2025, about a juvenile sex assault that spanned several years beginning in the summer of 2016 and ending in March 2018.
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, officials say Esterly was convicted of corruption of minors as a misdemeanor of the first degree and sentenced to 2 ½ to 5 years in prison for a case involving the same victim.
In that case, they say Esterly and the victim returned from Mexico following his flight from the Lehigh Valley.
Esterly, a father of four, was found in Mexico with the victim who was originally reported missing from Allentown.
It was alleged that Esterly signed the then 16-year-old out of school ten times in the previous months without her parents' permission.
Federal agents and Mexican authorities found Esterly and the teen in Playa del Carmen two weeks after being reported missing in early March.
Pennsylvania man who previously fled to Mexico with teen faces new rape charges
A Lehigh County man accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl over several years was arrested in West Virginia after two police chases Wednesday morning.
Officials say Esterly provided her with alcohol at a family birthday party and raped her when she was 14 years old.
The victim said that Esterly sexually assaulted her almost every time she slept over at his home.
These disclosures were not included in the 2018 prosecution.
The victim also said Esterly provided her with alcohol and drugs in the course of the sexual assault.
He was taken into custody June 11, 2025, in West Virginia after two police pursuits, according to authorities.
What's next:
Esterly is scheduled for sentencing on June 30, 2026.
Esterly faces a possible sentence of 43.5 to 87 years in state prison and will be required to register as a sexual offender for life.
The case was investigated by Pennsylvania State Police Trooper Taylor Dietrich and Allentown Police Detective Suzanne Toth. Chief Deputy District Attorney Sara A. Moyer, Deputy District Attorney Joseph S. Holaska and Paralegal Rachel Bard prosecuted the case.
The Source: Information from the Lehigh County District Attorney’s Office.