Kikar is reporting that the "mehadrin" bus line from Bet Shemesh to Jerusalem #418 has become dangerous for kids with predators taking advantage of the mehadrin arrangements to sidle up to boys and get some fondling in.

I would note that legally the 418 is not a mehadrin bus, as the Supreme Court already ruled that there can be no such thing. Any mehadrin arrangements must be only voluntary for each person and not encouraged or enforced by anybody. That being said, the 418 continues to function mostly according to mehadrin guidelines.

I would also note that I do not know why these arrangements provide more of an opportunity for the molesters and pedophiles. They and what they do can be seen just as much or as little by other people as on any other inter-city bus. I do not know why having women and men sitting interspersed in the same areas of the bus seemingly provides more protection than sitting genders in separate sections.

I find it amusing when they write "nobody suspected that specifically this line would turn into a nightmare for the yeshiva boys and youth who have become victims to a Haredi man. Sure, nobody would ever suspect such a situation of becoming a prime target for molesters. Nobody. Ever.

Back to the report:
Supposedly there have been rumors in recent weeks of a chassidshe dressed man on the 418 sitting next to kids and trying to do whatever he does. The rumors became reality when one kid did not play along.

A young yeshiva boy was traveling back to yeshiva in Jerusalem on the 418 the other day, Sunday, when a 30-something chassidic fellow got on the bus on Nahar Hayarden (in RBS B) and sat down next to this young teen, despite there being plenty of empty seats and rows available, and insisted on holding this boys tefillin (ostensibly picked up from the adjacent seat to make room for himself to sit) in his lap.

As the ride progressed, this person sidled up closer and closer to the boy sitting next to him, and even put his hands on the legs of the boy. The boy pushed him away and told himt o stop, which he did. For a bit.

A few minutes later he started making his move again, with the boy trying to repel him, until he got off the bus.

When he got to yeshiva he called his parents and told them what happened. They told him next time to scream and have people call the police. And, the father says he is from now on going to send his son on the 417 - there is no need for a mehadrin line, he said, if it is going to provide an opportunity for such people. The boy can ride on the 417 and avoid looking at the women rather than coming into contact with such animals.

I don't know about the rumors, but keep your eyes out on the 418, and anywhere else you might be, and your kids should have a plan what to do in such situations, wherever it might happen.