Substitute teacher, former murder suspect, on mental health hold

FRESNO, Calif. -- A Central West High School substitute teacher is in the hospital on a 48-hour mental health hold after acting oddly in a class full of students.

Fresno County sheriff's deputies say Steven Diddy is a former radio reporter who confessed to murdering a 2-year-old boy in 1996. He later recanted the story. It was one of the most high-profile murder cases in the mid-90s.

The sheriff's department says Diddy is not facing criminal charges. But his behavior was bizarre enough for the school's vice principal to call deputies for help.

Sheriff's deputies say early in the school day Monday, Diddy began acting strangely in front of his students. Within minutes, they say, the vice principal removed the 44-year-old from that room.

"He was reporting that one of his substitute teachers was acting in a bizarre fashion in the class," said Deputy Chris Curtice.

When deputies arrived they say Diddy was making strange comments. They took him to the hospital to undergo a mental health evaluation.

"I'm aware that the vice principal made contact with some of the students in the class to make sure that everybody was OK and that he didn't do anything that was criminal in nature," Curtice said.

Diddy is well known around the Fresno area. In 1996, while working as a Fresno radio reporter, Diddy confessed to the kidnap and murder of 2-year-old Matthew Moorby, whose body was found in Woodward Park Lake in Northeast Fresno.

Deputy Curtice says Diddy later recanted that story when the investigation began leaning toward a death penalty case. He was released in 1997 on insufficient evidence, but was sent in for a mental health evaluation at Atascadero State Hospital.

"Based on his past history, I'm kind of dumbfounded how he could be a substitute teacher," Curtice said.

KFSN-TV reached out to the Central Unified School District. A spokesperson confirmed an incident happened on campus, but no one was available to give other details as of this report.

Moorby's family and family friends say the incident with Diddy has stirred up a lot of emotion for them, especially since that murder case is unsolved.