'Prominent climber' convicted of sexually assaulting women in Yosemite

Charles Barrett was a well-known professional climber and guidebook author. Now the 40-year-old sex abuse convict is expected to spend the rest of his life in federal prison.

Barrett was sentenced Tuesday (June 4) to life in prison for two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact with a woman over the course of a single weekend in Yosemite National Park in August 2016, confirms the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California.

His conviction “sends a clear message about the consequences of this criminal behavior,” Yosemite National Park Superintendent Cicely Muldoon said in a statement. “This makes Yosemite a safer place for the climbing community, park visitors and our employees.”

Although Barrett was convicted of sexually abusing one woman, three others testified at his trial about additional abuses, which were outside federal jurisdiction but which the court considered relevant to the charged case.

“Barrett’s long history of sexual violence warrants the imposition of a life sentence,” U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said in a statement. “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 .”

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That weekend in August 2016, Barrett — who was then living and working for a private company in the national park — sexually assaulted the woman three times, according to prosecutors.

The following year, he “intentionally” went to a climbing gym where another of his victims climbed, according to court documents cited by prosecutors. When the woman — who had been sexually assaulted around 2010 — told the gym owner about the assault “in the interest of protecting other women at the gym,” according to prosecutors, Barrett spent the next several years “harassing” her and threaten her.”

Barrett was convicted of criminal threats in 2022.

And, according to prosecutors, Barrett followed the same pattern this time, noting that he made hundreds of phone calls “while in custody in connection with the present case” in which he “showed no no remorse or regret” and instead “threatened violence and vindictive prosecution against the victims, claiming they had hatched a plot to ruin his life.”

As of early afternoon on Wednesday, June 5, Barrett was not yet listed as an inmate in the Bureau of Prisons' online system.

Donald Murphy of the Bureau of Prisons confirmed to PEOPLE in an email that Barrett “is not currently in the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons” and that, consistent with federal prison policies, his assigned location is not will not be released before his arrival.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected with a certified crisis counselor.