Wife of Leechburg police chief: 'I am broken, devastated, humiliated'

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Wife of Leechburg police chief: 'I am broken, devastated, humiliated'

Emily Balser | Monday, January 8, 2018 1:36 a.m.

The wife of Leechburg police Chief Mike Diebold said she is devastated and was blindsided by her husband's arrest on child-sex related charges.

“They say God will never give you more than you can handle, but he did this time,” Danielle Reinke Diebold said in a statement e-mailed to the Tribune-Review on Sunday night by her sister, Teresa Edinger. “I have never hurt so bad in all my life.”

The Diebolds were married July 12, just a few weeks after Diebold was injured and lost part of an arm in a fireworks accident.

The Diebolds have an infant son, Kyle. Danielle Reinke Diebold also has a 15-year-old daughter.

Authorities arrested Mike Diebold, 40, of Forks Church Road in Gilpin on Friday after they said he attempted to set up a sexual encounter with an undercover agent he thought was a 14-year-old girl.

He is charged with unlawful contact with a minor and criminal attempt to commit involuntary deviate sexual intercourse.

The following is Danielle Reinke Diebold's statement in its entirety:

“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.”

Freelance writer Joyce Hanz contributed to this report. Emily Balser is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 724-226-4680, emilybalser@tribweb.com or via Twitter @emilybalser.