Raymond Bautista, 36, of Allentown. (Credit: Hatfield Police)
Allentown defendant also pleaded no contest to aggravated assault of an unborn child
An Allentown man, whose initial arrest was not without controversy, is headed to state prison for 4 to 8 years for beating a pregnant Hatfield woman outside Hatfield Village Apartments last April, which was captured on surveillance video.
Raymond Anthony Bautista, 37, of the 900 block of West Cedar Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty, as part of a plea agreement, to a felony aggravated assault charge and no contest to a charge of aggravated assault of an unborn child in the April 24, 2025 assault, according to court documents.
The no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is an admission that prosecutors could present sufficient evidence at a trial to prove the charge, according to The Mercury. A no contest plea is considered a conviction under state law.
Bautista must also attend domestic violence counseling and have no contact with the victim or the child.
“I heard trauma. I heard emotional pain. But mostly, I heard her courage,” said O’Neill, reacting to the victim’s statement, according to The Mercury.
“This defendant waited for her outside and ambushed her in the middle of the morning while she was innocently going to work. She was taken by surprise and he was much larger than her and he viciously assaulted her, punched her and kicked her numerous times while she was pregnant,” Deckel told The Mercury. “A state sentence is the only appropriate sentence given the facts.”
Deckel said the plea agreement spared the victim from having to re-live the incident at trial. She had input into the plea negotiation process.
“She doesn’t have to think about how she was beat when she was vulnerable and pregnant with her child at the time, and she’s able to move forward with her life knowing that she’s gotten justice,” said Deckel. “She’s an incredibly strong woman…She’s a woman that’s incredibly brave to go to the police and had incredible resolve to continue to go through this process.”
Deckel told The Mercury that it is difficult to be a victim of a crime.
“But she demonstrated that if you have that resolve, the district attorney’s office, the local police, will be behind you to support you and at the end of the day we will help you get justice,” he said.
Bautista’s arrest was not without controversy – he was initially arrested and arraigned before being released on an unsecured bond by an on-call Magisterial District judge.
This resulted in public fervor and an emergency motion for bail review filed by prosecutors in Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas, overseen by Judge William R. Carpenter.
Authorities had requested a $1 million cash bail, due to what Hatfield Police Chief William Tierney described at the time of the arrest as “the viciousness of this attack against a completely unsuspecting person.” However, the district judge modified the bail to $75,000 unsecured.
“Believe me when I tell you that we are just as shocked as you are,” Tierney said in a Facebook post in April 2025, expressing concern that the bail decision fell short of ensuring the victim’s peace of mind.
Tierney reported that Bautista was apprehended after Hatfield detectives conducted a swift and detailed investigation. He credited the success of the operation to the cooperation of residents and those who provided timely information and video footage. .
Police responded to the 2000 block of Maple Avenue in Hatfield around 4:30 a.m. April 24 for a 911 call about a woman assaulted while exiting their apartment, police said.
The suspect fled the scene prior to police arrival. He was wearing gloves, all black, and a ski mask, police said.
The attack was captured on security video at the apartment complex. The video shows the suspect hit the victim with a flying knee to the back, before he straddles her on the pavement and begins punching her repeatedly. The victim screams for help, but no one arrives.
Police said the victim was taken to Grand View Hospital by VMSC Emergency Medical Services for evaluation of injuries.
Bautista had no prior criminal history in Pennsylvania. He was represented by private attorney James Veith of Lower Salford Township
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
