(LOS ANGELES) — The father of Emmanuel Haro, the 7-month-old in California who has been missing since August, has pleaded guilty to the baby’s murder.
Jake Haro, 32, pleaded guilty in court on Thursday to all charges, including assault causing bodily harm to a child “resulting in the death of said child” and filing a false police report, according to court records.
The father, who previously pleaded not guilty with his wife Rebecca Haro in September, cried in court on Thursday while he was giving his plea.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel’s mother, 41-year-old Rebecca Haro, pleaded not guilty to an amended complaint on Thursday, with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Nov 3. It remains unclear what is in the complaint, according to Los Angeles ABC station KABC.
Jake Haro’s sentencing is also scheduled for Nov. 3.
Officials have not announced whether they have located the baby’s remains.
The 7-month-old was reported missing on Aug. 14 at approximately 7:47 p.m. local time after his mother “reported being attacked outside a retail store on Yucaipa Boulevard,” the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Aug. 15.
When he was reported missing, Emmanuel’s mother told officials that “while she stood outside her vehicle, changing the child’s diaper, she was physically assaulted by an unknown male and rendered unconscious,” authorities said.
Authorities later said the mother was “confronted with inconsistencies in her initial statement,” leading officials to say they were “unable to rule out foul play in the disappearance of Emmanuel,” officials said.
Jake and Rebecca Haro were arrested and charged for the child’s murder on Aug. 22, officials said.
In August, officials announced they had a “pretty strong indication” on the location of the child’s remains and they believed Emmanuel was “severely abused over a period of time.”
“The filing in this case reflects our belief that baby Emmanuel was abused over time and that eventually because of that abuse, he succumbed to those injuries,” Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin said during a press conference in August.
Hestrin said Jake Haro, who he described as an “experienced child abuser,” “should have gone to prison” due to previously abusing another child he had with his ex-wife back in 2018, but a judge at the time granted him probation — a ruling Hestrin called an “outrageous error in judgment.” Authorities said the child in that case has been left bedridden.
“If that judge had done his job as he should have done, Emmanuel would be alive today,” Hestrin said.
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