NEED TO KNOW
- Paul Jonathan Bittner, 43, was sentenced to 41 months in prison after punching an 11-year-old boy in the face in an alleged racially-motivated hate crime
- The boy suffered a fractured tooth and nose injury
- Police reports noted that Bittner made repeated racist remarks during and after the assault
A man who randomly punched an 11-year-old in a racially-motivated hate crime has been sentenced to 41 months in prison.
Paul Jonathan Bittner, 43, pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges of second-degree assault of a child and commission of a hate crime, The Bellingham Herald reported.
On June 12, 2024, an 11-year-old boy was walking with a group of students back to his school after a field trip to a nearby cinema when Bittner approached, walked in front of the boy and punched him in the face, the outlet reported, citing court records.
After hitting the boy, who is Black, Bittner mentioned how the child was speaking to a White person, The Bellingham Herald reported. The child reportedly told police that the assault occurred because of his race.
When Bittner was arrested by police, he continued to make racist remarks, the outlet reported, citing court records. He kept using the n-word and making references to harming Black people.
The 11-year-old boy sustained a fractured tooth and an injury to his nose, the Cascadia Daily News reported.
Bittner had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and not competent to stand trial in a previous evaluation, the outlet reported, citing court documents. His evaluator found that he met the criteria for schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, meaning he experienced symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, per the outlet.
“It’s unclear how much he understood the charges and allegations, while his refusal to discuss them certainly seems to be a notable factor,” the court documents read.
Bittner was then ordered to inpatient treatment at a local hospital for 90 days while in the custody of the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services, per Cascadia Daily News.
In court on Tuesday, prosecutor Benjamin Pratt said Bittner appeared to show a “substantially different tempermant” post-hospitalization, per the Bellingham Herald.
“I want to extend heartfelt hope that today brings healing for the victim and their family,” Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund wrote in a statement to the outlet. “Hate isn’t welcome in Bellingham, and we continue to stand with them and with our community against hate and discrimination.”
Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.
The 11-year-old told KIRO 7 that he felt a mix of emotions that day. “I was mad, sad, confused,” he said. Bittner remains in a local jail and his bail is set at $500,000.
“The toughest part about this is that my son was doing nothing. Nothing wrong. And was attacked. Attacked because of his skin color. Because he didn’t look like his attacker,” the boy’s father, Devante, told the local outlet.
Read the full article here
