Police chief accused of soliciting sex back in jail

WESTMORELAND COUNTY, Pa. — Disgraced Leechburg police Chief Mike Diebold was back in the Westmoreland County Prison on Thursday night.

STORY: Five things to know about Leechburg police Chief Mike Diebold

Diebold, who lost his arm in a fireworks accident, was first arrested in January during an undercover sting and subsequently suspended as chief.

Investigators said he was communicating with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, soliciting her for sex and trying to meet her at a Westmoreland gas station. However, it was actually an undercover agent posing as the girl.

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Within the last week, agents with the state attorney's office said they received tips from a "concerned citizen" that Diebold, who was out of jail on $500,000 bond, was having unsupervised visits with his 1-year-old son at his wife's house in Leechburg.

On Thursday night, investigators said they saw Diebold's vehicle parked in the woods behind the house and saw him with a small child in his arms.

Diebold's bail conditions do not allow him to have contact with his son outside of visits supervised by Holy Family Institute.

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A protection from abuse order filed by his wife Danielle also prevents him from having contact with his family or being near her house.

Court documents say authorities also received information that a family member gave Diebold a cell phone and laptop computer that allow him access to the internet, which would potentially violate another condition of his bail.

“The commonwealth further believes the defendant’s intentional and clear disregard for the conditions placed upon him create a high risk for the safety of the community and minor children," the assistant attorney general said in a motion field Friday.

Cox Media Group