An 18-year-old Yale student faces charges including sexual abuse and forcible touching following an alleged groping incident on a New York City subway train. The student, Ari Shtein, who is from Michigan, was arrested after police said he put his fingers inside a 30-year-old woman on an uptown R train in Manhattan on June 28.
According to police sources, Shtein made a remark to the victim after she recoiled in horror, saying, “My bad, didn’t know you were going to react that way.” The victim was reportedly traveling with four children between the ages of 7 and 11 at the time of the incident.
Sources identified Shtein as an aspiring journalist who had written an opinion piece for the student-run Buckley Beacon newspaper in October. In the article, titled "Cut the Fat," he questioned the value of mandatory sexual misconduct trainings for freshmen, asking about their purpose and whether they were effective in preventing harassment.
"What exactly was the point of participation in this program…Was there anyone in that room who planned to go around harassing and assaulting their classmates without the understanding that it would be wrong to do so?" Shtein wrote. He also suggested that such trainings could inappropriately label innocuous comments as harassment.
Shtein, who describes himself online as a proponent of "classical liberalism" and writes about philosophy and politics, had his bio as opinion editor for The Beacon removed from the paper's masthead after his arrest. A spokesperson for The Beacon confirmed he would no longer be volunteering with the publication.
This summer, Shtein has been working at the libertarian think tank Reason in Washington D.C., where he has authored articles on topics such as trade policy and political leanings of college professors. He has also written for the Yale Daily News.
Shtein initially fled the scene of the alleged incident but surrendered to authorities on Wednesday. He was charged with sexual abuse, aggravated sexual abuse, forcible touching, and endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors stated the alleged crime was witnessed by the children accompanying the victim.
Ari Shtein's attorney, Priya Chaudhry, who has represented clients such as actor Jonathan Majors, denied the allegations. Chaudhry stated that Shtein was visiting bookstores with a friend when he was falsely accused and that the accuser was an "unhinged" individual. She called for the release of subway surveillance video, asserting it would quickly clarify the matter and that Shtein's reputation had been damaged prematurely.
"His reputation has been destroyed before a single piece of evidence has been made public, he has been labelled a creep and convicted in the court of public opinion," Chaudhry said in a statement. She also argued that the alleged conduct would not have been physically possible unless the victim was wearing minimal clothing, given the crowded train car.
Yale University did not immediately respond to requests for comment. One Yale student, who knows Shtein and spoke anonymously to The Post, expressed deep concern and stated that if the allegations are true, Shtein should be expelled from the university, citing his public writings on gender, harm, and accountability as troubling.