Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Emmanuel Haro: Dad Says Wife ‘Innocent’ In Lengthy Jailhouse Interview | Crime Alert 6AM 08.29.25

Episode Date: August 29, 2025

The father of 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro said in a lengthy jailhouse interview denied prosecutors’ contention that the boy suffered long-term abuse before his presumed death and said his wife, who reported the infant missing, was innocent.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Crime Alert, hourly update. Breaking Crime News Now. I'm Sidney Sumner. In a lengthy jailhouse interview, the father of seven-month-old Emmanuel Harrow denied prosecutors' contention that the boy suffered long-term abuse

before his presumed death and said his wife, who reported the infant missing, was innocent. Jake Harrow, 32, told a Southern California news group reporter that he has been completely cooperative with investigators, although he declined to say whether he led them to the Moreno Valley Badlands over the weekend, where he was seen in a jailhouse jumpsuit as crews searched the area. Harrow and 41-year-old Rebecca Harrow were charged this week with killing little Emmanuel and filing a false police report. Riverside County District Attorney

Michael Hestron said that investigators believed that Emmanuel was severely abused over a period of time. Hestrin added, both parents would have been aware of that abuse. Harrow insisted that allegation was not true at all, but declined to say what role he may have played in the little boy's disappearance. Prosecutors and investigators said that there has been some level of cooperation from the parents, but declined to provide details. Rebecca Harrow reported her son missing on August 14, claiming that someone she did not see knocked her unconscious while she was changing Emmanuel's diaper and took the boy. In dramatic and emotional interviews after the reported disappearance, she begged for help finding her son. But investigators soon found inconsistencies in her stories, and a week later, the parents were arrested. Formal murder charges were filed this week.

In his jailhouse interview, Jake Harrow also denied prosecutor's version of his previous conviction for child abuse. He claimed that he accidentally dropped his newborn daughter on a sink divider while bathing her. She didn't look injured, he said, although she is now left blind with 3% brain function from her severe injuries, which included fresh and healing rib fractures, a fractured skull, and a leg fracture. Harrow and his then wife pleaded guilty, and he was sentenced to 180 days in a work release program with a suspended prison sentence and was ordered to attend a child abuser treatment program. Harrow said, somehow they magically convinced me to take this plea deal. I was sick of court. The judge knows I didn't do it. They just railrooted me. I was the fall guy.

District Attorney Heston said that there was no plea deal. Instead, Hero threw himself on the mercy of the court and pled guilty in open court to avoid trial. The judge then gave him a big break with the sentence over prosecutor's strenuous objections. The DA called it an outrageous error in judgment for this judge, commenting, Mr. Harrow should have been in prison at the time that this crime happened. Harrow declined to provide any details about the current case, citing advice from his lawyer. Harrow said, I want to talk about it, but I can't. I was told, don't do no press. Rebecca Harrow, too, appears to be ignoring legal advice, speaking to a reporter from jail over the weekend and sticking solidly to her kidnapping story. Rebecca's husband says she is innocent. The media is killing her. She is a beautiful woman. She loves her children. The Riverside Sheriff's Department has declined to comment about Harrow's interview,

saying the investigation is very active and will be for quite some time. More Crime and Justice News after this. A Florida mother went on trial this week for the death of her toddler son in 2021. Erica Dotson and her boyfriend Joshua Manns both face charges in the death of three-year-old Jameson-Nance, but a judge severed their cases earlier this year. A date has not been set for Mann's trial. Dotson called 911 on June 11, 2021, saying that Mans had called her at work to say the little boy had possibly drowned. By the time she got home, Mans was gone, and Little Jameson was dead on the bathroom floor.

Mans had fled to Georgia, where he was later arrested. An autopsy revealed that the boy had not drowned and instead had multiple healing and fresh injuries, including a broken rib, brain swelling, and head injuries. Other injuries included a broken tooth, pushed into his gums, a cut on his jaw, a fractured arm, a ruptured esophagus, and seven separate stab wounds, some fresh and some healing. While Dotson's defense contends she knew nothing about man's abuse of the child, prosecutors say they found multiple messages between the couple in the weeks prior to his death, discussing the injuries and how to cover them up.

The State Department of Children and Family Services was also aware of problems in the household, but apparently did not take any action. According to an arrest affidavit, the boy broke his leg in an unwitnessed event in 2019, and then again in 2021, when the adults claimed he had fallen off a curb. The second broken leg reported led DCF to learn of other suspicious incidents, including injuries to his face. The story was that the family had been spending time by the pond, and the child fell, rolled into or near the water, and was attacked by a duck. The text messages reveal more, many concerning man's complaints that the boy was not using the toilet, which would lead to punishment.

Dotson would text her support for man's punishment, even thanking him for always dealing with him for her. She frequently referred to the toddler as a jerk or a d'b. The boy's biological father, James Nance, was among the first witnesses at Dotson's trial. He testified that a verbal custody arrangement they had fell apart once Dotson began dating Manz, forcing him to take legal action just to see his son. But no agreement was ever reached before the boy was murdered. For the latest crime and justice news, be sure to follow the Crime Alert hourly update on your favorite podcast app. With this crime alert, I'm Sidney Sumner.