Climber Charles Barrett sentenced to life in prison for sexual assault in Yosemite

A climber from Santa Rosa was sentenced Tuesday to life in federal prison following his February conviction for sexually abusing a woman in Yosemite National Park.

Charles Barrett, 40, was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento.

The abuse took place in August 2016 while Barrett was living and working at the park.

“He used his status as a prominent climber to assault women in the climbing community, and when his victims began to speak out, Barrett responded by publicly lashing out with threats and intimidation ” U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said in a statement.

According to Talbert's office, Barrett sexually assaulted one victim three times while she was in Yosemite for a weekend hiking trip.

Three women, including one from Sonoma County, testified during Barrett's criminal trial that he also sexually assaulted them.

No charges were filed for those incidents because they occurred outside federal jurisdiction, according to prosecutors.

A judge allowed the women's testimony because it was relevant to the case, federal officials said.

Court documents show Barrett and the Sonoma County woman began a relationship after meeting at a local climbing gym in September 2016.

After breaking up later that year, Barrett threatened suicide and showed up at his Sevastopol home unannounced. On January 6, 2017, the woman called police after he arrived and he was subsequently charged with trespassing and disorderly conduct.

During Barrett's federal trial, one of the other victims testified that he assaulted her more than a decade ago and that in 2017 he went to a climbing gym that she frequented.

She told the gym owner what happened in order to protect other gym members, and Barrett spent several years harassing and threatening her in response, according to prosecutors.

Barrett was convicted in August 2022 of making criminal threats in that case.

He continued to make “hundreds of phone calls” and threaten victims while he was in custody in connection with the federal case, officials said.

According to prosecutors, he claimed his accusers “devised a plot to ruin his life.”

You can contact editor Colin Atagi at [email protected]. On Twitter @colin_atagi