Story perspectives

Men Sentenced for Hate Crimes Against Gay Men

12/20/2025

38 7

Summary

Story summary

In Tauranga, New Zealand, three men—Thomas Bull, Ethan Jeffs, and Patrick Moloney—were sentenced for assaults on gay men organized through a Snapchat group, with 13 incidents reported between August and September 2024.
The assaults were physical, filmed, and shared online, and the court deemed them a hate crime.
Bull received eight and a half months of home detention; Jeffs nine months; Moloney ten months, given their youth and rehabilitative efforts.

1 of 1

Story summary

In Tauranga, New Zealand, three men—Thomas Bull, Ethan Jeffs, and Patrick Moloney—were sentenced for assaults on gay men organized through a Snapchat group, with 13 incidents reported between August and September 2024.
The assaults were physical, filmed, and shared online, and the court deemed them a hate crime.
Bull received eight and a half months of home detention; Jeffs nine months; Moloney ten months, given their youth and rehabilitative efforts.