Climber Charles Barrett sentenced to life imprisonment for sexual assault in Yosemite National Park

A Santa Rosa rock climber was sentenced to life in federal prison on Tuesday after being found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman in Yosemite National Park in February.

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

The abuse occurred in August 2016 when Barrett lived and worked at the park.

“He used his status as a well-known climber to attack women in the climbing community, and when his victims began to speak out, Barrett responded with public threats and intimidation,” U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert said in a statement.

According to Talbert’s office, Barrett sexually assaulted a victim three times while she was in Yosemite National Park for a weekend of hiking.

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

Prosecutors said no charges were filed in these cases because they occurred outside of federal jurisdiction.

A judge allowed the women’s statements because they were relevant to the case, federal officials said.

According to court documents, Barrett and the Sonoma County woman began a relationship after meeting at a local climbing gym in September 2016.

After their separation that same year, Barrett threatened suicide and showed up unannounced at her Sebastopol home. On January 6, 2017, the woman called police after he showed up, and he was later charged with trespassing and disturbing the peace.

During Barrett’s trial in federal court, one of the other victims testified that he attacked her more than a decade ago and came to a climbing gym she attended in 2017.

To protect the other members, she told the gym owner about the incident, after which Barrett harassed and threatened her for several years, according to prosecutors.

Barrett was convicted of making criminal threats in this connection in August 2022.

While in custody pending federal charges, he continued to make “hundreds of phone calls” threatening the victims, officials said.

According to prosecutors, he claimed that his accusers had “plotted to ruin his life.”

Reach staff writer Colin Atagi at [email protected]. Follow on Twitter @colin_atagi