Star climber who allegedly attacked female climbers for years receives life sentence

A once-celebrated climber was sentenced to life in prison Tuesday for repeatedly raping a hiker in Yosemite National Park. He had previously been accused for years of sexual assault, violent attacks, threats and harassment of other women in the climbing community. Prosecutors said.

Charles “Charlie” Barrett, 40, was found guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact with the woman, referred to in court documents as “KG,” for the August 2016 rapes in Yosemite National Park.

Three other women were also allowed to testify at trial about his alleged attacks on them, which prosecutors said took place between 2008 and 2016. He was not charged in those cases, which fell outside the jurisdiction of the federal courts, but prosecutors said they showed a pattern of predatory behavior and attempted intimidation.

KG told authorities she met Barrett in Yosemite National Park, where she went swimming with him and a group of climbing friends, according to court documents obtained by HuffPost. That night, he lured her to a secluded area, where he pushed her to the ground, choked her until she couldn’t breathe and “brutally raped” her, according to court documents. He attacked her twice more over the weekend, injuring her so badly that she told investigators she was “howling” in pain.

She said she did not leave earlier that weekend because she was terrified he would kill her.

A month after the attacks, Barrett texted her, saying, “Can we be friends? I miss you.” She replied, “I find it difficult to be friends with men who rape me,” the documents say.

Before and after she reported the assaults in 2020, Barrett harassed and stalked her, contacted her ex-boyfriend, a potential employer and others on social media and threatened to sue her for defamation, KG said. In several social media posts, he compared himself to Johnny Depp and used the hashtag “#MenToo,” court documents show.

When he attacked KG, Barrett was living and working in Yosemite National Park, where he had previously been banned for three years after being arrested for drunken driving in 2004, threatening the officers who arrested him and slashing the tires of a park ranger. (He later also threatened to kill the 9-year-old twin daughters of the ranger involved in the drunken driving stop, investigators said.)

He was charged with five felony counts in connection with the incidents. The charges were dropped when he pleaded guilty to a single count of vandalism and served a six-month prison sentence. according to Outside Magazine and court documents viewed by HuffPost.

Between his arrest and conviction in 2006, Barrett brutally attacked an experienced mountain climber he was dating, she said. The woman, identified in court documents as “BH,” told Outside that one night, without warning, he punched her in the head so hard that she lost consciousness. When she came to, she saw that he had dragged her dog into the middle of a busy highway, was holding it by its collar and screaming that he was going to kill himself. Eventually, he freed the dog and drove away.

She didn’t contact authorities until he attacked her again in October 2008 after finding her gathered around a campfire with other climbers at a popular climbing area. He taunted her dog, she told Outside, and when it bit him, he started hitting it. When she tried to walk away with the dog, he followed her to her truck and knocked her to the ground, she said. Another climber said he caught Barrett repeatedly hitting her in the head as she lay unconscious. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, court records show.

Meanwhile, Barrett’s popularity in the climbing community grew. He was praised by friends and admirers for his record-breaking climbs and popular climbing guides, while the women who spoke out about his assaults and threats were shunned by the climbing community, several people told Outside.

In 2016, he attacked another woman he was dating, identified in court documents as “EB.” He broke into her home and sexually assaulted her after she broke up with him, authorities said. After the attack, he continued to threaten and harass her, saying he would “ruin her life” and do “unspeakable” things to her if she reported the incident, investigators said.

Barrett was ultimately charged with three counts of criminal trespass in the case. Two counts were dropped and he pleaded no contest to the third. He received a two-year suspended sentence.

Another woman who testified against Barrett said he sexually assaulted her in her sleep in 2010. She escaped, and for years he threatened to kill her, harassed her on social media, and vilified her publicly and privately.

“Barrett’s long history of sexual violence justifies the imposition of a life sentence,” U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said Tuesday. “He used his status as a prominent climber to attack women in the climbing community, and when his victims began to speak out, Barrett responded by publicly threatening and intimidating them.”

Barrett’s attorney Timothy Hennessy said in a statement to HuffPost that the life sentence was “excessive” and that he intends to appeal.

During the hearing on Tuesday, the four women leaned on each other, often holding hands and wiping tears from their eyes. According to the Sacramento Beewho said they cried with relief after the judge announced his life sentence.

As the Sacramento Bee reported, KG said in a statement before Barrett’s ruling: “It is time to finally end Barrett’s reign of terror.”

Need help? Visit RAINN’s National online hotline for sexual assault cases or the National Sexual Violence Resource Center website.