'Our lives have been completely shattered': wife of Leechburg police chief breaks silence

LEECHBURG, Pa. — The wife of Leechburg police Chief Mike Diebold has released a statement on her husband’s arrest on Friday on child sex offenses.

Diebold, 40, was charged with unlawful contact with a minor and criminal attempt to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse. He allegedly admitted to soliciting sex from an undercover agent posing online as a 14-year-old girl, according to a criminal complaint.

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT LEECHBURG POLICE CHIEF MIKE DIEBOLD

Diebold gained national attention when he lost an arm in a fireworks accident in June.

The couple married a few weeks after the accident.

RELATED STORIES:

• Leechburg police chief injured in fireworks accident
• Fiancee of police chief injured in fireworks accident gives update on his condition
• Local police chief relearning basic skills after losing arm in fireworks accident
• Meeting held to discuss future of Leechburg police chief, hurt in fireworks accident

Channel 11 met Diebold's wife back in November. The couple has a brand new baby and she has a 15-year-old daughter.

A member of Danielle Reinke Diebold's family, emailed the following statement to our news partners at TribLIVE.com:

"They say God will never give you more than you can handle, but he did this time.

I have never hurt so bad in all my life.

I don't know how to pick up all these broken pieces and find a way to put them back together and go on with my life, but I have to try to find a way for my children. Our lives have been completely shattered.

I am broken, devastated, humiliated, and I was completely blindsided.

He was the first man ever in my life who never made me question, never gave me a gut feeling, never a bad instinct or sign and we were even in the process of planning to extend our family.

This is not who we knew. We knew a loving, caring father and husband and we are grieving the loss of that man.

On the other hand, we are dealing with the raw emotions of having someone you loved and admired be charged with committing a terrible crime.

I feel like they are two different people but they are not.

I will never find the right words to say but I want to say I am truly so sorry to everyone out there including any minor that may have been involved, our community, family and friends.

Danielle."

TRENDING NOW:

• Wintry mix impacting road conditions across the area
• Pittsburgh School and Business Closings
• Postal carriers say aggressive turkeys stopping mail service
• VIDEO: RAW VIDEO: Car burns after crash on Route 65

Diebold is now suspended from his position without pay.

For the first time, Leechburg Mayor Wayne Dobos reacted to Channel 11, and only because lawyers gave him the green light to suspend the chief without pay.

He called the arrest of the very man who is supposed to uphold the law "unbelievable."

"Shocked. Shocked is the only word I can think of," Dobos said.

He remains in the Westmoreland County Prison on $500,000 straight bond in protective custody.

Protective custody means he in a cell alone and doesn't go anywhere without a guard.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Jan. 16.

Cox Media Group