Leechburg Police Chief Charged With Soliciting Girl, 14, For Sex

LEECHBURG, PA – A police chief in the small Pennsylvania town of Leechburg who lost his left hand and part of his lower left arm last year in a fireworks accident has now been charged with trying to solicit sex from an undercover agent pretending to be a 14-year-old girl.

Leechburg Police Chief Michael Diebold suffered the life-threatening injuries when a shell exploded in June at the borough’s fireman’s carnival. He married his fiancee, Danielle Reinke, less than three weeks later and garnered local news coverage over his wanting to resume his police duties wearing a prosthetic limb.

On Friday, state Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced Diebold, 40, of Forks Church Road, was charged with felonious unlawful contact with a minor and criminal attempt to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

Diebold tried to solicit sex from an undercover agent from the attorney general’s office who was posing as teen girl online, the office said.

The online media outlet BuzzFeed reported that Diebold identified himself in an online ad soliciting sex as "a dom male that is also employed as a full time police officer." BuzzFeed, citing a criminal complaint, said Diebold wrote he was seeking a "female sub for ongoing play sessions," and signed the ad with his KIK messenger app handle, "kutecop4yous."

“This case is particularly heinous because the perpetrator is a public official, sworn to serve and protect the community,” Shapiro said. “We have a zero tolerance policy for the sexual abuse of children and my office will prosecute any offender to the fullest extent of the law, no matter who they are.”

Despite the undercover agent repeatedly telling Diebold he was an underage girl, authorities said Diebold still sent over inappropriate pictures and solicited the agent for unlawful sexual contact. He also arranged plans to meet the undercover agent.

Diebold was arrested in Westmoreland County on Friday, Shapiro said.

“Thanks to the hard work of the agents and prosecutors in our Child Predator Section, one more predator is off our streets,” Shapiro said. “We are working relentlessly to get every perpetrator out of our communities and to keep Pennsylvania’s children safe.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Photo credit: Westmoreland County Jail