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The father of a 7-month-old missing in Southern California pleaded guilty to second-degree murder of his son after a months-long investigation failed to locate the child’s remains.
Jake Haro also pleaded guilty Thursday to a misdemeanor count of assault on a child under 8 years of age resulting in death, paralysis or unconsciousness, and filing a false report.
Haro, 32, and his wife Rebecca Haro, 41, attracted national attention this summer when they reported that their son, Emmanuel Haro, was abducted outside a store in San Bernardino County on Aug. 14.
Rebecca Haro told authorities she was attacked and knocked unconscious outside a store in the Yucaipa community while changing her son’s diaper. Authorities said Haro told them that when she woke up, her son was gone.
The Sheriff’s Department said Rebecca Haro was later informed by authorities about the discrepancies in her account and declined to continue cooperating.
A week after reporting their son missing, authorities arrested both parents as part of a murder investigation.
The couple were accused of the murder of Emmanuel Haro and making a false report. They are each being held on $1 million bail.
“Based on the evidence, investigators determined that a kidnapping did not occur in Yucaipa,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said after his arrest on August 22. “A search is underway to recover his remains.”
Prosecutors have said they believe the boy’s death was caused by abuse.
In 2023, Jake Haro pleads guilty in open court to abusing another of his children in 2018. The girl suffered fractures of ribs and skull, brain hemorrhage and other injuries.
Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said prosecutors asked the judge at the time to sentence Haro to prison, but instead he was granted 180 days of work release, as well as probation.