University officials called the death "a tragedy" after being informed early yesterday.
Centre County Coroner Scott Sayers ruled the death a suicide.
Kulp was arrested Saturday for allegedly assaulting three sleeping women in their Mifflin Hall rooms earlier that morning. He was being held in an isolated temporary holding cell at the Bellefonte prison on $35,000 bail.
While officials were processing the arrival of a recently arrested woman last night, a corrections officer noticed Kulp was not on his bunk, where he had been 20 minutes earlier, prison warden David Immel said.
The officer then found Kulp hung on a shoelace attached to a metal bar on the window at the back of his cell shortly after 11 p.m. Monday, Immel said.
Kulp was unresponsive and only had a weak pulse, the warden and the coroner said. Prison staff attempted to resuscitate him while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.
"There was no indication or strong signals from Mr. Kulp that he was contemplating this," Immel said.
But Kulp's father said his son had been suffering from depression for several months.
Kulp was a model child until he started experiencing emotional problems during the end of his senior year in high school, his father said, adding that the descent into depression was "like lightning." Kulp's family took him to a psychiatrist, but he resisted help.
At the psychiatrist's suggestion, Kulp enrolled in the 2001 Summer Session at Penn State to get away from his hometown, which may have been contributing to his son's problem, his father said. During the break before Fall Semester, the younger Kulp ran into problems with police and ended up moving into Hamilton Hall two days after most freshmen.
Kulp's roommate said the problem at home had been underage drinking. Kulp's father said that drinking exacerbated his son's depression. When he moved into the dorms, "he promised us he wouldn't drink," Kulp's father said.
Kulp spoke to his family for the last time on Friday night. He told them he had been attending his classes all week. "I guess later on that Friday night he started drinking and went off the deep end," his father said.
According to what Kulp told police after being arrested, he had been drinking and smoking marijuana at a fraternity party early Saturday, when he walked to Mifflin Hall in search of "female companionship," Penn State Police Services said.
He told police he went from room to room in Mifflin Hall, looking for unlocked doors.
"He was looking for someone to hold and love, as well as have sex with," the criminal complaint states. "He said he just wanted to be with someone."
Each victim said she awoke to find Kulp in the same bed, touching her intimately.
Kulp's father said Penn State police informed him and his wife that their son had been arrested, but the younger Kulp did not talk to his parents again before his death.
"I hope he didn't hurt anyone," Kulp's father said.
When Kulp arrived at the prison, he went through the typical intake procedures, which include a series of questions about emotional health.
During the questioning, Kulp said that he was depressed and worried about the charges, but said he was not feeling suicidal at the time, Immel said.
In response to Kulp's reply, the prison contacted a counselor from the Meadows Psychiatric Center in Centre Hall.
Normally, a counseling employee at the prison would speak with new arrivals, but regular counselors were not available when Kulp was arrested during the weekend.
The Meadows did not return calls about the incident yesterday.
Mary Anne Knapp, a staff therapist at Penn State Counseling and Psychological Services, said counselors are offering special crisis hours for students who need to talk about the assaults or the suicide.
If enough interest arises, Knapp said CAPS could offer a larger group meeting.
Immel said that as far as he knows, the last suicide in Centre County Prison was in 1983. "You certainly don't want this to happen at all," he said.
Kulp was the fourth of five children.
"He was a beautiful little boy," he said. "He had a perfect record all through school — never had a bit of trouble in his life, (except for) the last couple of months."
Kulp's family is arranging a private funeral service for family and friends for later this week.
His father said his son's death is a warning to those who shrug off mental problems.
"He had everything going for him," he said. "We were battling depression . . . and we lost."
