Yale Student Arrested on Sexual Abuse Charges, Pleads Not Guilty and Released Without Bail

Was arrested July 8 by the New York City Police Department on charges of first-degree sexual abuse, third-degree aggravated sexual abuse, forcible touching on a bus or train, third-degree sexual abuse and four counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

m. aboard a northbound R train approaching the West 28th Street and Broadway subway station in Manhattan.

A 30-year-old woman reported she was sexually abused while riding the train with four children ages 7 to 11. Police said Shtein allegedly put two fingers inside the woman’s vagina and told her, “My bad, didn’t know you were going to react that way,” after she recoiled. The woman exited at the station and was taken by EMS to a local hospital.

Shtein remained on the train after the incident and surrendered to police just after 7 a.m. on July 8. Court records show he pleaded not guilty at his arraignment before Judge Ilona B. Coleman and was released on his own recognizance.

He is scheduled to return to New York Criminal Court on Aug. 26. Shtein’s attorney, Priya Chaudhry, denied the allegations in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Ari did not assault anyone,” Chaudhry said.

Chaudhry also stated that the allegation was physically impossible given the crowded subway car and challenged the account on factual grounds. Shtein is listed as a staff columnist for the Yale Daily News opinion desk. The newspaper indefinitely suspended him following the arrest, with Editor in Chief Asher Boiskin citing the need to await the legal process.

-based libertarian think tank Reason.