Yale Student Accused of Sexually Abusing Mom of 4 on R Train

Yale University student and 18-year-old Ari Shtein was arrested on July 8 for allegedly sexually abusing a 30-year-old woman on the uptown R train in front of her four children.

The woman, who is unidentified for privacy, was on the crowded train approaching the W. 28th St. stop around 3 p.m. on June 28 when she said Shtein came up behind her and inserted two fingers into her vagina.

Police said after the victim reacted negatively to the incident, Shtein was reportedly surprised. According to the New York Post, in response, he allegedly said, “My bad, didn’t know you were going to react that way.”

The victim said her four children, ages 7-11, witnessed the incident. Shtein reportedly fled the scene, but surrendered to cops on the morning of July 8 after photos were distributed on the CrimeStoppers web site.

Shtein was charged with sexual abuse, aggravated sexual abuse, forcible touching, and endangering the welfare of a child, according to prosecutors.

In a statement, his lawyer, Priya Chaudhry, said Shtein was in the city visiting bookstores with his friend. However, Shtein is a native of Michigan and attends school in Connecticut.

Due to his out-of-state-ties, DA Alvin Bragg’s office requested he be held on $10,000 bail to dissuade him from fleeing but he was released on his own recognizance after appearing in front of Manhattan Criminal Court Judge Ilona Coleman for his arraignment.

“Every strap-hanger has encountered unhinged people on the subway,” his lawyer said in a statement. “Unfortunately, when Ari visited our city, it was his turn. Ari did not assault anyone.”

Chaudhry, who is a celebrity lawyer, has represented stars, including actor Jonathon Majors, who was convicted of assault and harassment, and filmmaker Paul Haggis, who was found liable for rape.

Chaudhry said Shtein was falsely accused and called for the video from the train to be released.

“His reputation has been destroyed,” she continued. “Before a single piece of evidence has been made public, he has been labelled a creep and convicted in the court of public opinion.”

Shtein is a Philosophy and Math major at Yale set to graduate in May 2029, according to his website. He is also an aspiring journalist, and has written for his school's papers, the Yale Daily News and The Buckley Beacon.

The Beacon has pulled his bio from the website and said Shtein will no longer be involved with the publication.

On Shtein’s personal Substack, “Mistakes Were Made,” he says he writes about politics, philosophy, and effective altruism. In a post from October 2025, “Sexual Misconduct Training Is Often Worse Than Useless,” Shtein railed against his school’s 90-minute sexual misconduct training.

“In particular, I think it’s unlikely that very many students entering college are unsure of whether it’s good or bad to rape, assault, abuse, and harass their classmates,” Shtein wrote.

Continuing on, he wrote, “Maybe I’ll learn something I didn’t know— maybe I’ll realize that I’ve in fact been committing all sorts of evil and terrible sexual sins in ignorance.”

He said that “no such secret sinning was revealed,” and proceeded to argue the effectiveness of the trainings.

In another post from February 2026, “Love and the Crisis of Modernity,” he analyzed why fewer people were coupling up.

In a section addressing the waves of feminism’s impact on romance, he said that #MeToo “made romance harder to do, by condemning both truly wrong acts and the kinds of honest mistakes and ambiguities which relationships sometimes involve.”

Shtein is scheduled to appear back in court on August 26.