The relationship between Crouch and Bartonpublished at 13:37 British Summer Time 4 August 2023
Craig Crouch, Jacob's stepfather, met Gemma Barton, his mother, when she was four months pregnant.
The jury on the seven-week trial heard that the pair grew “very close, very quickly" and referred to Jacob as "our little boy" after only a month together.
Jacob was born healthy on 17 February 2020, and Crouch was named as his father on the birth certificate.
We're referring to Crouch as Jacob's stepfather precisely because he is not the biological father.
Crouch - who at one point during the trial told the court he had always felt as though Jacob "was mine" - was found guilty of his murder earlier this week.
Barton was cleared of murder but found guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child.
Barton repeatedly denied harming Jacob and, when asked by prosecutors who had caused his injuries, told the court: "It was not me, so that leaves Craig.”