Jack Harrow was sentenced to 25 years in prison for killing baby Emmanuel

Jack Harrow, the father of missing baby Emmanuel, whose shocking disappearance sparked an army of Internet ghosts, has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the murder of his 7-month-old son.

Harrow, 32, who initially pleaded not guilty, changed tack and pleaded guilty on Oct. 16 to one count each of murder, assault causing death of a child under 8 and filing a false police report, according to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office.

He and his wife, Rebecca Harrow, 41, reported that their son was abducted on Aug. 14 after someone attacked him in a Yucaipa parking lot. But detectives quickly found holes in their story and charged both parents with murder.

On Monday, Harrow was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for the murder, as well as 180 days in prison for the false police report.

Because he committed the crimes while on probation, he must also serve the six years and eight months in prison he previously received for child abuse, prosecutors said.

Emmanuel Haro was kidnapped, but his parents later faced murder charges.

(San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department)

Harrow was convicted of the crime in 2023 after her infant daughter was hospitalized in 2018 with a fractured skull, multiple fractures to her back, a brain hemorrhage, swelling in her neck and a fractured tibia in her leg, according to a court filing for police arrests.

A judge later suspended the sentence — a decision that Riverside County Dist. Attiy Mike Hesterin condemned in a press conference on August 27th.

“If that judge had done his job the way he was supposed to, Emanuel would be alive today,” Hesterin said. “It’s a shame and it’s an outrage.”

Harrow was credited with 551 days of time served and will serve a minimum of 30 years in prison as a result of the cumulative charges before he is eligible for parole.

Although baby Emmanuel’s body has not yet been found, prosecutors believe that multiple acts of abuse and physical assault led to the boy’s death.

The mother has maintained her not guilty plea to the charges of murder and filing a false police report. She is due back in court on Jan. 21 for a plea deal conference, prosecutors said.

“The lies told in this case only deepened the tragedy of Emanuel’s death,” Hesterin said in a statement Monday. “While today’s sentence represents a measure of accountability for Jack Harrow, our office will continue to seek justice as the case against his co-defendant progresses.”

Prosecutors allege that the couple deliberately claimed to have kidnapped the child. When San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigators questioned the mother about inconsistencies in her police report, the couple stopped cooperating.

A week later, they were arrested in their Cabazon home. In August, authorities removed another 2-year-old child from the couple’s custody and threw a field in Moreno Valley in a jailbreak with Harrow.

The remains of baby Emmanuel have not yet been found.

Times staff writer Nathan Solis contributed to this report.