Professional climber sentenced to life in prison for sexual assault in Yosemite National Park

A professional climber was sentenced Tuesday to life in prison for the 2016 sexual assault of a woman in Yosemite National Park, federal prosecutors said.

Charles Barrett, 40, was convicted of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact, according to a statement from the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of California, Phillip A. Talbert.

Barrett was living and working in the national park when a woman went there in August 2016 for a weekend hiking trip. Barrett sexually assaulted her three times, according to court records and evidence presented at trial, prosecutors said.

Three other women testified at Barrett's trial that he also sexually assaulted them, prosecutors said.

Barrett was not charged with the assaults because they occurred outside the jurisdiction of federal prosecutors, but the women's testimony was admitted during the trial as relevant to the charges against Barrett, the lawyers said. prosecutors.

'Barrett's long history of sexual violence warrants imposition of life sentence' Talbert said. “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 . This case testifies to the courage of the victims who denounced these crimes.

Attorneys listed as representing Barrett could not immediately be reached by NBC News Tuesday afternoon for comment.

One of his attorneys, Timothy P. Hennessy, told the judge that a life sentence was not appropriate because Barrett suffered from a mental illness, the San Luis Obispo Tribune reported. Another lawyer representing Barrett, David Torres, said he planned to appeal the case, the newspaper reported.

Barrett has a history of intimidating his victims, prosecutors said.

In 2017, seven years after allegedly assaulting one of the women who testified against him at his trial, prosecutors said, Barrett deliberately climbed at a climbing gym the woman frequented. She disclosed Barrett's sexual assault to the owner to protect other women at the gym, prosecutors said.

Barrett then harassed her for years, according to prosecutors. In August 2022, he was convicted of the criminal threats he made earlier that year, prosecutors said.

While in custody in his latest case, prosecutors said, Barrett made hundreds of phone calls and threatened violence and legal action in retaliation against his accusers.