Former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold to stand trial on alleged sex offender violations

Former Leechburg police Chief Michael Diebold will stand trial on charges that he didn’t comply with registration requirements for convicted sex offenders, a district judge confirmed Wednesday.

Diebold, 42, was charged by state police in Armstrong County with two felony counts of failing to provide accurate registration information. The case was sent to Armstrong County Common Pleas Court during a preliminary hearing Tuesday before District Judge Kevin McCausland.

Troopers said Diebold used the social media site FetLife.com to contact a woman and sent inappropriate photos to her from his phone last year.

Diebold’s attorney Duke George argued for the charges to be dismissed.

“They called one witness. They didn’t have enough information there. We‘ve got to wait until we get all the discovery to decide what we’re going to do,” George said, referring to information authorities have that enables them to file criminal charges.

Diebold remained in Westmoreland County Prison on Wednesday, George said.

He has been in jail since early December, when a Westmoreland County judge detained him based on allegations that similar behavior violated terms of his parole for sex crimes that he was convicted of in late 2018.

Diebold previously pleaded guilty to charges that he attempted to solicit sex online and was sentenced to serve nine to 23 months in jail and three years on probation.

Police said Diebold communicated with an undercover agent who posed as a 14-year-old girl. He was arrested as part of a sting operation by the state Attorney General’s Office.

As a condition of his sentence, he was barred from using the internet for purposes other than work.

The new criminal charge was related to the same incident that prompted the alleged parole violation.

Police said Diebold used the name “Punisher228” to contact the woman via social media. In doing so, prosecutors contend Diebold failed to meet requirements for sex offenders to register all internet profiles and email addresses with state police.

The judge ordered him to be detained pending the outcome of Tuesday’s preliminary hearing, George said.

Diebold had previously asked to be released and to be allowed to continue counseling. He asked that he be allowed to undergo a psychological evaluation.

“We’re going to look into that,” George said.