To quote LBC News on 2nd August 2023
“A man has been found guilty of murdering his 10-month-old stepson who was found dead in his cot with dozens of injuries, while his mum is guilty of allowing his death.
Jacob Crouch was found dead in his cot at his Derbyshire home in December 2020 and was later discovered to have 39 rib fractures, 19 visible bruises and several internal injuries.
Stepfather Craig Crouch, 39, was convicted of murder and three counts of child cruelty following a seven-week trial at Derby Crown Court.
Jacob’s mother Gemma Barton, 33, was cleared of murder, an alternative charge of manslaughter, and two counts of child cruelty. She is guilty of causing or allowing the death of a child and a third count of child cruelty.”
LBC News 2nd August 2023
It is impossible to imagine a more gut-wrenching story of a baby beaten to death by his stepfather, who joked with his mother about putting bleach in his bath and asking her whether she had killed him yet.
“In text messages from June 2020, Crouch told Barton that she needed to be “more regimental” with Jacob to “not let this take over us”, claiming he was “starting to get really pissed off with him” in a later text.
Other messages revealed that the pair at one stage referred to Jacob as the “devil”.
In September, when Barton told Crouch she was bathing Jacob, he replied “3 foot deep, just hot water and some bleach xxxx”, a comment he later labelled in a police interview as “banter”.”
Was the sentence appropriate?
Craig Crouch, the stepfather, received a life sentence for murder with a recommendation that he spend at least 28 years behind bars. The mother, Gemma Barton, received a 10 year sentence. It was accepted that she was less to blame than Crouch. She was found guilty of one count of child cruelty, in addition to causing or allowing the death of a child.
The evidence was that Jacob died from peritonitis of the bowel, which had been pierced by a stamp or firm punch. The rigor mortis found when the police arrived indicated that he had been dead longer than claimed, and that if the emergency services had been called earlier, he could have survived.
There are those who will clamour for the death penalty for such a crime. Whilst one must have some sympathy with such a view, it is arguably uncivilised for the state to kill its citizens.
On the other hand, Crouch showed no remorse. He was said to be a fantasist who claimed to be a Director of JCB on a six-figure salary rather than a forklift truck driver. He sounds to be an arrogant narcissist who has no appreciation of the gravity of his crimes.
How did the services miss the signs of neglect?
Usually, in the reports of such crimes, one finds criticism by the judge, or the media of Social Services, the Health Visitor, the GP, and/or Hospital, for failing to spot the signs of neglect in their various contacts with the family.
I have searched the news reports, and can find no such criticism. I wondered why, until I realised that Jacob Crouch was born on 30th December 2020, which was right in the middle of COVID lockdown, which officially started in March 2020. So he was conceived at the beginning of lockdown in March 2020. At that time visits were severely restricted, and observation was light touch.
One has to ask whether this is the start of a sad list of child cruelty and deaths, which have been brought about by the tensions of individuals thrown together inside houses with little chance of escape? Whilst walks in the countryside were possible, those who lived in the depths of the city would have found it harder to find respite. One cannot excuse the murderous actions of Crouch, but the circumstances are cumulatively influential.
What contact did they have with outside agencies? They failed to ask for medical help at the appropriate time, but messages from the government were directed at the possible overloading of the NHS by people seeking assistance when it was not necessary.
The COVID Public Inquiry
Surely there ought to be an inquiry into what effect COVID had upon the situation, and why the services failed to act before it was too late. Inevitably, lockdown must have contributed. There is a Public Inquiry running at the moment. Would this issue not be an ideal investigation to be included?
The ambit of the public inquiry is specifically to include
“the impact on children and young people, including health, wellbeing and social care;”
What has been the effect of COVID on Child Abuse?
Many articles have been written about the effect of the pandemic upon Child Abuse, but when one thinks about it, the cocktail of circumstances is frightening
- Families thrown together with little chance of escape lead to arguments, tension, family disagreements, the end of relationships, etc. I know of many couples who have split up, for example.
- Boredom leads to excessive use of the internet, and the growth of fantasies of a pornographic, paedophilic kind
- An opportunity for child abusers to develope their journeys into pornography, and then actual abuse.
- The development of child pornography by those who build, and invent such systems online, led by the increase in demand for such services.
- A lack of services such as police, health care, medical aid, etc., not due to a lack of bodies but because all resources were funneled into the pandemic.
- Child Abuse increases within families, and the abused child is trapped in tragic and enduring circumstances from which he/she cannot escape
- As soon as lock down is eased, services are overwhelmed with complaints that have been bottled up during lock down, and cannot cope with demand.
The above chart almost speaks for itself and is tragic.
My View
I gave an interview to the Nick Ferrari show on LBC Radio on Thursday morning, when I briefly expressed the view that I have given in this article. Whilst I have been dealing with child abuse cases for over 30 years, I have rarely come across a story as horrific as this one, hence the need to write about the subject.
If the above has awakened in you the need to seek advice, do not hesitate to get in touch with me for a free initial consultation.
