Dad of Baby Emmanuel Haro Was Convicted in 2023 of Abusing Infant Daughter, Who is Now 'Permanently Bedridden' with Cerebral Palsy By Chris Spargo

The father of baby Emmanuel Haro was on the radar of prosecutors and law enforcement in his California county long before he was charged with murdering his son.

Jake Haro, 32, and his wife Rebecca, 41, are being held on $1 million bail as officials continue to search for the remains of 7-month-old Emmanuel.

But this is not the first time Jake has been eyed by authorities for alleged crimes against his children.

In 2018 Jake was charged with willful child cruelty after his 10-week-old daughter was brought to the hospital with extensive injuries, including multiple new and healing bone fractures, retinal hemorrhages and brain injuries, according to a copy of the arrest warrant filed in that case and obtained by PEOPLE.

That daughter is the child of Jake and his ex-wife, not Rebecca.

Jake entered a guilty plea to that charge in 2023, but at sentencing the judge suspended his 6-year prison sentence and order the convicted child abuser to instead serve 6 months in a work release program followed by 4 years of probation.

At a news conference on Aug. 27, Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin revealed that Jake’s daughter is now “permanently bedridden” because of the injuries she suffered during the first two months of her life.

Hestrin also said that Jake’s daughter, who is now 7, suffers from “cerebral palsy that is a result of long-term child abuse.”

Hestrin then read the injuries doctors found when they examined the child, which were also included in the arrest warrant. She had suffered fractures of her skull, tibia and various ribs, as well as brain hemorrhaging and soft tissue swelling in her neck, per the complaint.

The infant was having seizures and one of the doctors who examined her later said that her “condition could have been fatal if medical attention was not sought,” according to the arrest warrant.

Jake claimed that he had been washing the infant in the sink and accidentally dropped her when asked to explain the cause of his daughter’s injuries. The doctor who examined the infant said in response that the type of injuries she faced, specifically the head trauma and rib fractures, could not be explained by a short fall into the sink.

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The pediatrician noted that because the victim was a “pre-mobile infant,” the injuries were likely the result of “abuse head trauma, child physical abuse and nutritional neglect.”

Hestrin said that the judge decided to give Jake a “break” by keeping him out of prison despite his daughter’s injuries.

“This is severe abuse for an infant and so whatever you think of the criminal justice system and people need a break someone who does that to a child belongs in prison,” Hestrin said.

Jake would go on to allegedly violate his probation twice in the first two years.

Court records obtained by PEOPLE show that the first alleged violation occurred in July 2024 when Jake was found to be in possession of a firearm, and the second came last week when he and Rebecca were charged with Emmanuel’s murder.

Rebecca had reported that her son was kidnapped on Aug. 14 when she was knocked unconscious while changing the child’s diaper in the parking lot of a sporting goods store in Yucaipa, a city located 10 miles east of San Bernardino.

“I took him out of the car seat and I laid him on the chair, and I had his diapers right here,” Rebecca said after filing what authorities now say was a false report. “Someone said ‘Hola,’ and I couldn’t even turn and … I don’t remember nothing.”

Rebecca, who had a black eye she said she suffered during the attack, then said that when she came to, her baby was gone.

Investigators allegedly found inconsistencies with Rebecca’s story, and a week later the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced in a statement that deputies had “determined a kidnapping in Yucaipa did not occur.”

The sheriff’s department later said in that same statement: “It is believed Emmanuel is deceased and the search to recover his remains is ongoing.”

Authorities now believe that Emmanuel was killed days before the false kidnapping report, with the last known sighting of the child occurring on Aug. 5, according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE.

Rebecca maintains she is innocent and believes her son is still alive, while Jake was seen with law enforcement searching for his son’s remains on Sunday.

The public defender representing the couple did not respond to a request for comment. He asked the court to push back the arraignment to Sept. 4 so he could get up to date on the case earlier this week.

Hestrin said that he is still struggling to understand why Jake was allowed to be anywhere near a child.

“Mr. Haro should have been in prison at the time that this crime happened, and if that judge had done his job as he should have done, Emmanuel would be alive today,” Hestin said on Tuesday,

“And that’s a shame and it’s an outrage. And I hate to say that, but when our criminal justice system breaks down, I’m going to just call it like it is and tell you it broke down. It’s not how it’s supposed to work.”

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.