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

A prominent climber from Santa Rosa was sentenced to life in federal prison for sexual assaults he committed in Yosemite National Park, federal prosecutors announced Tuesday.

Charles Barrett, 40, was convicted in February of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact that occurred during a weekend at the park, where he lived and worked .

One victim went to Yosemite for a weekend hiking trip in the summer of 2016, but was sexually assaulted by Barrett three times, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California.

During the trial, three other women came forward and alleged he had sexually assaulted them. Those assaults did not fall under federal jurisdiction “but were admitted at trial as being relevant to the accused assaults,” prosecutors said.

“The defendant used his fame and physical presence as a climber to lure and intimidate victims who were part of the climbing community,” U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said in a statement released by his office. “His violent sexual assaults were devastating to the victims, whom he then threatened before the trial.”

Prosecutors said Barrett made “hundreds” of phone calls while in custody before his sentencing, and during those calls “he showed no remorse or regret.”

“Instead, he threatened violence and vindictive prosecution against the victims, claiming they had hatched a plot to control his life,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

The climbing magazine called Barrett “a fixture on the California climbing scene for two decades” following his indictment in August 2022. Barrett is also the author of several climbing guidebooks.