A Yale student has been charged in connection with an alleged groping incident that occurred on a Manhattan subway train in June. Ari Shtein, 18, a freshman from Michigan, has pleaded not guilty to charges including sexual assault, aggravated sexual abuse, forcible touching, and child endangerment.
Prosecutors allege that on June 28, Shtein sexually assaulted a 30-year-old woman from behind on an uptown R train as it approached the 28th Street station. The woman was traveling with her four children, who were between the ages of four and seven at the time of the alleged incident. According to investigators, the woman recoiled after the alleged assault, and Shtein responded, "My bad, didn't know you were gonna react that way."
The alleged victim exited the train at the next stop to seek help and was subsequently taken to a hospital. Shtein reportedly fled the scene but surrendered to police days later. He was arraigned in Manhattan criminal court on July 8 and released without bail.
Following news of the arrest, opinion articles authored by Shtein during his first year at Yale surfaced. In an article published in the university's conservative student newspaper, The Buckley Beacon, Shtein questioned the value of mandatory sexual harassment training for incoming students, referring to it as "pointless" and suggesting it could mischaracterize appropriate social interactions.
Following the allegations, Shtein's role as opinion editor for The Buckley Beacon was terminated, and his biography was removed from the newspaper's masthead. He had also been working as an intern at the libertarian think tank Reason.
Shtein is represented by attorney Priya Chaudhry, who has previously represented clients such as actor Jonathan Majors and reality television personality Jen Shah. Chaudhry has vehemently denied the allegations, stating that her client "did not assault anyone" and that the alleged incident was "nonsense." She contended that the alleged assault would not have been physically possible under the circumstances described and called for the release of surveillance footage from the subway car to prove Shtein's innocence.
Prosecutors maintain that the presence of the four children during the alleged incident is a factor in the child endangerment charges. Shtein's next court appearance is scheduled for later this summer. The charges against him are allegations, and he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.