The Riverside County District Attorney recently blasted a local judge for failing to lock up a man before he was arrested on suspicion of killing his 7-month-old son, but court records show the DA’s office also acquiesced to him walking free even after he allegedly violated his probation in a prior child abuse case.
In a press conference Wednesday, DA Mike Hestrin blamed baby Emmanuel Haro’s death on a judge’s decision in 2023 to suspend a 6-year prison sentence and grant probation to Emmanuel’s father, Jake Haro, after he pleaded guilty to abusing his 10-week-old daughter.
“That decision was absolutely outrageous,” Hestrin said. “Mr. Haro should have been in prison. … If that judge had done his job as he should have done, Emmanuel would be alive today.”
At the time, Judge Dwight W. Moore suspended the sentence, saying it would serve as “a very large hammer over the defendant’s head” that would theoretically deter him from further wrongdoing.
But it wasn’t long before Jake Haro was accused of new crimes, including probation violations in July 2024 and a related case where he was charged with being a “convicted felon and narcotic addict” in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
In the new cases, the DA’s office didn’t oppose Jake Haro remaining free on $60,000 bail.
At least three times prior to August 2025, when Jake Haro allegedly murdered baby Emmanuel, the DA’s office appeared in court on the new cases but didn’t oppose requests by the defense attorney to continue the matter while Jake Haro remained out of custody.
According to transcripts reviewed by the Long Beach Post, during the most recent hearing, on July 2, 2025, Jake Haro appeared before a Riverside County Superior Court judge along with an attorney who announced: “Mr. Haro is present here to my right, out of custody.”
Deputy DA Connor Rathbun told the court that “Mr. Haro’s counsel of record is currently engaged in a child custody matter, and he’s asking to come back September 2nd. I have no opposition to that.”
Just a few weeks later, authorities allege, Jake Haro murdered his son.
The DA’s office hasn’t yet responded to written questions from the Long Beach Post about why they didn’t oppose bail for Jake Haro in the probation violation case and related criminal case.
DA Hestrin also did not address it at Wednesday’s press conference, where he lambasted a judge’s 2023 decision to give Jake Haro probation in the case where he pleaded guilty to willful child cruelty for inflicting injuries on his young daughter, Carolina, who suffered a fractured skull, damaged spine, multiple broken bones and other injuries evidencing severe child abuse.
Hestrin called this sentencing decision “an outrageous error in judgment” and a failure by the criminal justice system to protect baby Emmanuel.
Hestrin didn’t mention that Jake Haro was free on bail in the probation violations case and related criminal case, without any apparent opposition from the DA’s office.
On Wednesday, Judge Moore told the Long Beach Post that ethical rules prevent him from explaining his decision to grant probation in the 2023 case.
“I’m absolutely precluded from commenting publicly about the case,” said Moore, who acknowledged that the controversy caught him by surprise. “In 18 years, this is the first time I’ve been taken to task in this manner about a decision I’ve made.”
The fate of Emmanuel has drawn nationwide attention since his mother, Rebecca Haro, reported to police on Aug. 14 that an unknown man kidnapped her baby from the parking lot of a Big 5 store in Yucaipa while she was changing his diaper.
Although authorities believe Emmanuel was murdered, his remains haven’t been recovered. Rebecca Haro has also been charged.