‘Prominent climber’ sentenced to life in prison for sexually harassing women in Yosemite National Park

Four women testified at Charles Barrett’s trial against him in California

Charles Barrett was a well-known professional climber and travel guide author. Now the 40-year-old prisoner convicted of sexual abuse must spend the rest of his life in a federal prison.

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

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

Although Barrett was convicted of sexually abusing a woman, three other people testified at his trial about additional abuse that was not within federal jurisdiction but that the court considered relevant to the case at hand.

“Barrett’s long history of sexual violence justifies 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 attack women in the climbing community, and when his victims began to speak out, Barrett responded by publicly responding with threats and intimidation.”

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

The following year, he “intentionally” went to a climbing gym where another of his victims was climbing, according to court documents cited by prosecutors. When the woman – who had been sexually assaulted around 2010 – told the gym’s owner about the assault “to protect other women at the gym,” prosecutors said, Barrett spent the next few years “harassing and threatening” her.

Barrett was convicted of criminal threatening in 2022.

And Barrett, prosecutors said, followed the same pattern this time too. They noted that “while in custody in this case” he made hundreds of phone calls in which he showed “no remorse or regret.” Instead, he “threatened violence and revenge against the victims, claiming they were plotting to ruin his life.”

As of early Wednesday afternoon, 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, in accordance with federal prison policy, his assigned location will not be disclosed to him until 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 to a certified crisis counselor.

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