Exclusive | Jake Haro passed child abuse counseling with flying colors months before son Emmanuel ‘was tortured to death’

RIVERSIDE, California — Jake Haro passed his court-ordered child abuse classes with flying colors — with counselors praising his parenting skills and deeming him a low risk to reoffend — just months before he was charged with torturing his 7-month-old son Emmanuel to death, The Post can reveal.

Haro was ordered to attend the program in lieu of prison time after he savagely beat his 10-week-old daughter Carolina, leaving the little girl disabled for life.

Two counselors working with Jake in the program — run by PHS Counseling in Moreno Valley, Calif. — wrote glowing comments about his progress and behavior on two reports filed in Jake’s earlier criminal abuse case.

Counselor Steven DeHay wrote on a July 18, 2024 report that during the course Jake was “attentive, polite, and appropriately interactive in class with other members and facilitators.”

“He appears to have gained self-insight and awareness into his parenting style,” the report went on. “He appears to have benefited from this mandated class/program.”

DeHay gave Jake top marks — 7 out of 7 — for his attitude and and under the category of “child abuse,” while giving him 5s and 6s on four other categories including “child welfare” and “parenting skills.”

Another counselor, Mirna Johnson, wrote an earlier Nov. 20, 2023 report, giving Jake with passing marks across all six criteria while gushing about his “progress” in the course.

“Mr. Haro reported that his discipline consists of logical and natural consequences, and he offers limited choices to teach decision making and democracy,” Johnson wrote. “Mr. Haro shared that his children are motivated by positive reinforcement and that his limits are stable and only increase with the maturity of his children.”

She deemed the likelihood that Jake would abuse another child as “low,” the report shows.

Johnson declined to comment when reached by The Post Thursday. The counseling center and DeHay didn’t immediately return requests for comment.

Jake and Michelle Haro appeared in Riverside County Superior Court Thursday, where they pleaded not guilty to charges they murdered their son Emmanuel and lied to cops following Emmanuel’s disappearance last month.

Jake wore an orange jail jumpsuit, while Rebecca had on a blue top and red pants. Both were handcuffed in the front as their lawyers pleaded not guilty on their behalf during the brief, five-minute long hearing.

Jake, 32, only spoke to say, “Yes,” at one point when the judge asked him a scheduling question.

Two supporters of the boy — who don’t know the family personally — attended the hearing wearing “Justice for Emmanuel” t-shirts and advocated for a new law to passed that would protect children from convicted abusers — which they said should be called “Emmanuel’s Law.”

“I think it’s disgusting,” Geena Ayala, 55, said of Emmanuel Haro’s case.

“I think one or the both of them need to start telling the truth so we can lay Emmanuel to rest properly.”

Ayala — a mother of two and grandmother of two — said: “Emmanuel’s Law is about protecting every child. It’s to ensure no child goes back to a convicted child abuser.”

Emmanuel’s body has not been found, but prosecutors say they have convincing evidence the baby died after a long period of abuse at his parents’ hands.

Rebecca Haro, 41, has maintained her innocence from a jail cell, but Jake allegedly told a fake, police-planted inmate that he killed Emmanuel and dumped his body in a trash can, a source told NewsNation. 

He also allegedly told police he accidentally smothered the child while sleeping and buried his body, the source added.

Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin cited Jake Haro’s previous child abuse conviction, for which he served no jail time.

Hestrin said Haro should have been in prison after that attack, which left his daughter Carolina, who is from a previous marriage, with fractured ribs, a fractured skull, a brain hemorrhage, and other injuries.

Yet Haro was let off with counseling and probation.

“That decision was absolutely outrageous. Mr. Haro should have been in prison,” Hestrin said.

That history of abuse will be used against the Haros in court, according to the criminal complaint.

Meanwhile, authorities said they have an idea of where Emmanuel’s remains might be, although they haven’t found the body.

“We have a pretty strong indication of where the remains of baby Emmanuel are,” Hestrin told reporters last week.

The investigation is being conducted jointly between sheriffs in Riverside County and San Bernardino County.

The parents are being held on $1 million bail.