As investigators continue to search for the remains of baby Emmanuel Haro, the child’s father is strongly denying claims that his 7-month-old son was subjected to long-term abuse.
Allegations that Jake Haro, 32, and his wife, Rebecca Haro, 41, harmed their infant were “not true at all,” Jake said in a jailhouse interview with The Orange County Register on Wednesday, Aug. 27.
A day earlier, both Jake and Rebecca were charged with murder and filing a false police report. Each is being held on $1 million bail.
According to police, Rebecca claimed her son had been kidnapped on Aug. 14 after she was knocked unconscious in the parking lot of a sporting goods store in Yucaipa, about 10 miles east of San Bernardino.
During a 45-minute video interview from jail, Jake was questioned about his trip with investigators to the Moreno Valley Badlands on Sunday, Aug. 24, where he was seen accompanying authorities as they searched for his son’s remains.
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“I want to talk about it, but I can’t,” he told The Register. “I was told, don’t do no press.”
He did, however, discuss his 2023 child cruelty conviction for abusing his infant daughter Carolina in 2018. That conviction, Jake said, led authorities to assume he was also responsible for Emmanuel’s death.
“I pled guilty because I didn’t have the money to go to trial,” he explained to The Register. “The judge said nobody would believe my side of the story. Somehow, they magically convinced me to take this damn plea deal. I was sick of court. The judge knows I didn’t do it. They just railroaded me. I was the fall guy.”
In 2018, Jake was arrested and charged with willful child cruelty after his 10-week-old daughter was brought to a hospital with multiple injuries, including bone fractures in different stages of healing, retinal hemorrhages, and brain trauma, according to an arrest warrant obtained by PEOPLE.
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The girl, now 7, is Jake’s daughter with his ex-wife, Vanessa. Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin stated at a press conference on Aug. 27 that she is “permanently bedridden” and suffers from cerebral palsy “as a result of long-term child abuse.”
Jake claimed the child’s injuries happened after he accidentally dropped her while washing her in the sink. However, doctors told authorities that her extensive injuries could not be explained by such a short fall.
In 2023, Jake pleaded guilty to child cruelty. A judge suspended his six-year prison sentence and instead ordered him to complete six months in a work-release program, four years of probation, and attend a child-abuser treatment program.
Jake also defended his wife, whom he married three years ago. “Rebecca is innocent,” he said. “The media is killing her. She is a beautiful woman. She loves her children.”
He also responded to public outrage surrounding the case: “God is with us. The allegations are horrendous, so of course people are going to be riled up.”
When asked what he would say to Emmanuel if given the chance, Jake answered softly: “I love you, buddy.”
