A former Leechburg police chief — who was fired and prosecuted for seeking sex from what he thought was an underage girl — used his cellphone while meeting with a probation officer to access a website devoted to fetishes, bondage and sadomasochism, state investigators said in court.
In doing so, Michael Diebold violated his parole and was jailed late last week. The 42-year-old remained in custody Monday, when he appeared via video for a court hearing.
“He did not commit a crime on social media. These were all adult women. It’s unreasonable to detain him on a technical violation,” defense attorney Dan Joseph said.
Diebold pleaded guilty last year and was sentenced to serve nine to 23 months behind bars followed by three years of probation for attempting to solicit underage sex through the internet. He was communicating with an undercover agent posing as a 14-year-old girl and was arrested as part of a sting operation by the state Attorney General’s Office.
As part of Diebold’s sentence, Westmoreland County Common Pleas Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio barred him from using the internet or social media except for work purposes after he was released from jail this year.
Deputy Attorney General Chuck Washburn said Monday in court that Diebold was suspected of using a phone to access the social media site Fetlife.com during a visit last week with a probation officer.
Prosecutors listed three suspected probation violations in court documents: that he accessed internet sites not approved for work purposes; that he accessed a social media site; and that he had not completed a required sex offender treatment program.
“There were naked pictures of him on his phone and messages asking somebody for sex,” Washburn said.
Common Pleas Judge Christopher Feliciani ordered Diebold to remain in jail pending a hearing that was tentatively scheduled for Wednesday before Bilik-DeFazio.
