Famous free solo climber jailed for life after raping woman while hiking in Yosemite

A famous California climber has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting a woman multiple times while hiking in Yosemite National Park.

Charles Barrett, 40, used his reputation in the sport “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,” prosecutors said.

After his arrest, Barrett also made more than 100 phone calls from prison to harass the woman and other alleged victims.

Barrett was convicted in February of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact and sentenced Tuesday by a federal judge in Sacramento.

Prosecutors say Barrett sexually assaulted his 19-year-old victim three times over the course of a weekend in 2016.

A sentencing memo in the case said that on one occasion, Barrett lured her to a secluded area of ​​the park where he “strangled her to the point that she feared death” by attacking her.

Three other women testified that they were sexually assaulted by Barrett in 2010, 2015 and 2016, SFGATE reported.

Prosecutors told the court that Barrett showed no “remorse or regret” for making the calls. Court documents indicate that during a call in May, Barrett called the accusations against him “wild” and “crazy.” He described them as “random girls saying whatever they wanted.”

“Barrett’s jail calls continue to show a complete lack of remorse and a victim mentality that cannot be rehabilitated,” officials said in the document.