Did Jake Haro have a history of child abuse?

In a Riverside courtroom thick with unspoken horrors, a father admitted to a truth he had once desperately tried to bury. Jake Haro, 32, stood before a judge and pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his own son, 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro—the same infant he and the child’s mother had falsely reported as kidnapped just months before. This plea, entered without any deal from prosecutors, marks a pivotal, yet profoundly unsatisfying, chapter in a case that has left a community grieving and a crucial question unanswered: Where is Baby Emmanuel?

The legal proceeding was stark and direct. Haro not only confessed to murder but also to the charges of filing a false police report and assault on a child under eight years of age. In a rare move, his “open plea” to the court means his fate rests solely in the hands of the judge, who will now determine a sentence that could see him imprisoned for 25 years to life. His defense attorney offered no comment, leaving Haro’s motivations shrouded in silence.

This guilty plea pulls back the curtain on a twisted tale that began on August 14, 2025. Rebecca Haro, the 41-year-old mother, initially told San Bernardino County Sheriff’s investigators a harrowing story of being attacked in a Yucaipa parking lot outside a Big 5 store while changing her son’s diaper. She claimed an assailant stole her baby. The report triggered a massive, heart-wrenching response. Search teams, accompanied by a handcuffed Jake Haro in a jail jumpsuit, scoured an isolated field in Moreno Valley, clinging to the faint hope of a rescue.

But that hope was built on a lie. Investigators quickly identified glaring inconsistencies in Rebecca’s story. When confronted with these details, authorities say she clammed up, refusing to cooperate further. The narrative of a random kidnapping crumbled, and within a week, the focus shifted from an unknown assailant to the child’s own parents, arrested at their Cabazon home.

The case reveals a devastating failure of the system to protect the most vulnerable. Shockingly, Jake Haro was already a convicted child abuser. In a 2018 case out of Hemet, a previous infant in his care was found with a skull fracture, brain hemorrhage, multiple healing rib fractures, and a neck injury. Haro claimed then that he had accidentally dropped the baby into a kitchen sink, but a examining physician bluntly stated the catastrophic injuries were inconsistent with such a story. He was later convicted of felony willful child endangerment. This history makes the current tragedy all the more chilling; when Emmanuel was reported missing, it was this prior conviction that prompted Riverside County authorities to swiftly remove a two-year-old child from the home, likely saving that child from a similar fate.

While Jake Haro has accepted responsibility, Rebecca Haro maintains her innocence, pleading not guilty to murder. She remains in custody, with a preliminary hearing set for November 3rd—the same day Jake Haro will learn his sentence. This sets the stage for a dramatic legal split, where one parent will face sentencing for their child’s death while the other continues to fight the charge.

The most agonizing void in this case, however, is the one left by Emmanuel himself. His tiny body has not been found. The search for his remains has seemingly stalled, caught in a jurisdictional limbo where the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department defers to the Riverside County District Attorney’s office, and vice-versa. This lack of closure has drawn sharp criticism from advocacy groups.

Daniel Chapin, founder of The Uvalde Foundation for Kids—which offered a reward during the initial search—called the guilty plea a “necessary step toward accountability” but declared the case “incomplete.” In a powerful statement, Chapin emphasized, “justice for Emmanuel is incomplete until his remains are recovered.” The foundation is now channeling its efforts into a new mission: recovering Emmanuel’s body and advocating for “Emmanuel’s Law,” proposed legislation aimed at fixing the systemic cracks that failed to protect him and his sibling. For a grieving public and for the cause of true justice, finding Emmanuel is the only ending that matters.

FAQ

Q1: What did Jake Haro plead guilty to?
Jake Haro pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his 7-month-old son, Emmanuel, as well as filing a false police report and assault on a child under 8 years old.

Q2: Was there a plea deal in this case?
No. Haro entered an “open plea” directly to the court, separate from any agreement with the district attorney’s office. This means the judge alone will determine his sentence.

Q3: What is the status of the mother, Rebecca Haro?
Rebecca Haro has pleaded not guilty to murder and remains in custody. Her next court appearance is a preliminary hearing scheduled for November 3.

Q4: Have baby Emmanuel’s remains been found?
No. Despite extensive searches, the remains of baby Emmanuel have not been located, which remains a central and painful unresolved aspect of the case.

Q5: Did Jake Haro have a history of child abuse?
Yes. In 2023, Haro was convicted of felony willful child endangerment for injuries inflicted on another infant in his care in 2018, which included a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage.

Q6: What is “Emmanuel’s Law”?
“Emmanuel’s Law” is a proposed piece of legislation championed by The Uvalde Foundation for Kids, aimed at strengthening child protection systems to prevent similar tragedies.