Man who assaulted Bellingham middle schooler sentenced for assault, hate crime
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Paul Bittner sentenced to 41 months for hate crime assault against 11-year-old boy.
- Court cited mental illness diagnosis following competency evaluation in 2024.
- Incident prompted community support and reinforced stance against hate crimes.
A California man who assaulted a Whatcom Middle School student in downtown Bellingham last year in an alleged racially-motivated hate crime has been sentenced to 41 months in prison.
Paul Jonathan Bittner, 43, of Ukiah, Calif., was arrested on June 12, 2024, and charged with second-degree assault of a child and commission of a hate crime. He pleaded guilty to both felonies in Whatcom County Superior Court on Tuesday afternoon.
“I’m feeling good,” the child’s father, DeVante Blow, told The Bellingham Herald following the sentencing. “I’m feeling as if justice was served and the community is safer.”
He said his family has tried to move past the incident together. They’ve prioritized the boy’s health, and “he’s in a great place.”
Following his arrest, Bittner was initially found not competent to stand trial and spent more than five months at Western State Hospital. While there, he was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, which means he experiences symptoms of both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
Senior Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Benjamin Pratt said he has been with this case since the beginning, and Bittner showed a “substantially different temperament” today than he did initially following his arrest.
Bittner’s public defender Richard Larson said untreated mental illness was likely the cause of the “very unfortunate situation.”
Bittner did not address the court prior to his sentencing, and the family did not provide victim impact statements.
What happened on June 12?
According to court records, an 11-year-old boy was walking with a group of fellow students back to school following a field trip to the Pickford Film Center. As the class was walking north on Grand Avenue near the county courthouse, Bittner fell into step with the group and began walking directly in front of the 11-year-old.
The child, who was Black, was talking to a white friend when Bittner, who is also white, turned around and punched him in the face. He caused the child “immense pain,” court documents state, and chipped one of his teeth.
After striking the middle school student, Bittner made a comment about how the child was speaking to a white person. The child told police that he believed the random assault occurred because of his race.
Bittner continued to make racist remarks once detained by officers, according to court records. He repeatedly used the n-word and made references to assaulting Black people.
“Acts of violence against people motivated by any aspect of their identity are intolerable, and our police department carefully investigates each incident so it can be handled with justice,” Bellingham Police Department Chief Rebecca Mertzig said in an email Tuesday. “It was thanks to quick work by our officers and community members that we were able to hold the offender accountable.”
Impact on the community
Bittner pleaded not guilty to both felony charges nine days after his arrest. It was one of the most well-attended arraignment hearings that has happened in Whatcom County Superior Court in at least five years, so much so that court and judicial officials were concerned they may have been running afoul of capacity rules for the room.
“I want to extend heartfelt hope that today brings healing for the victim and their family,” Bellingham Mayor Kim Lund wrote in a statement. “Hate isn’t welcome in Bellingham, and we continue to stand with them and with our community against hate and discrimination.”
Judge Evan Jones told Bittner that the incident “had a tremendous impact on the community.”
Jones followed the agreed recommended sentence of 41 months in prison, followed by 18 months in community custody. A no-contact order between Bittner and the child, who was a stranger to him, has been put in place for 10 years. Potential restitution remains open.
Blow said he was satisfied with the outcome of the sentencing.
“There’s not a number that we wanted thrown at (Bittner),” he said. “It was just making sure that ultimately Mr. Bittner and his state of mind were corrected more so than just throwing him to jail. That doesn’t solve the problem, so we need to solve the problem at the core. And I believe we’re headed that way.”
This story was originally published July 15, 2025 at 2:46 PM.