Mother of Emmanuel Haro pleads guilty, sentenced to prison

Rebecca Renee Haro, mother of 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro, pleaded guilty Friday to felony child abuse causing great bodily injury to a child under 5, with an involuntary manslaughter enhancement, and was found guilty as an accessory after the fact. As part of a

Rebecca Renee Haro, 42, once insisted her 7-month-old son, Emmanuel Haro, had been kidnapped—sparking a frantic search that pulled in national attention and kept investigators scrambling for answers.

Friday, her story shifted in court. Haro pleaded guilty to felony child abuse causing great bodily injury to a child under the age of 5. with an enhancement allegation of involuntary manslaughter. She also was found guilty of being an accessory after the fact. according to the Riverside County district attorney’s office.

Under the plea agreement, Haro was sentenced to 12 years and eight months in state prison, prosecutors said.

Brandon Smith. an assistant district attorney. said in a statement that Haro’s decision to plead and accept sentencing reflected what prosecutors described as her failure as a parent. “Rebecca Haro’s plea and sentence today reflect her sins of parental omission,” Smith said. “Her choice not to intervene was a choice to allow, if not facilitate, Emmanuel’s death. This defendant had a legal and moral responsibility as Emmanuel’s mother. She catastrophically failed in that duty.”.

Haro’s guilty plea came about six months after her husband, Jake Haro, 33, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 25 years to life for the murder of their infant son. Jake Haro also received a 180-day sentence for filing a false police report.

Emmanuel’s disappearance ignited a case that spread well beyond the Inland Empire. After Haro and her husband told authorities that their son had been kidnapped following an attack on her in a Yucaipa parking lot on Aug. 14, the search for the baby drew the kind of attention that turns families into headlines. Independent journalists, online sleuths, and criminal case followers traveled from across the country to track the case.

A week after the kidnapping report, investigators arrested the couple at their Cabazon home. The investigation concluded Emmanuel was most likely dead and that the kidnapping story had been faked.

Authorities also removed another 2-year-old child from the couple’s custody and scoured a field in Moreno Valley, with Jake Haro in a jail jumpsuit. Even with the search, Emmanuel’s body has still not been found.

Prosecutors pointed investigators toward Jake Haro’s history. Investigators paid special attention to the boy’s father. who had previously been convicted of felony willful child endangerment after his baby daughter was taken to a hospital in 2018 with a skull fracture. several healing fractures to her ribs. a brain hemorrhage. swelling in the neck. and a healing tibia fracture in her leg. according to a police affidavit for an arrest warrant.

In their statement, prosecutors said they believed multiple acts of abuse and physical assault led to Emmanuel’s death. “While the evidence established that Jake Haro was the person who inflicted the fatal injuries. ” prosecutors wrote in a statement. “the prosecution alleged that Rebecca Haro became aware of Emmanuel’s deteriorating condition and signs of ongoing abuse. failed to protect him or obtain necessary medical care. and later participated in efforts to conceal the crime.”.

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