A federal court handed down a life sentence to a professional rock climber convicted of sexually abusing a woman in Yosemite National Park. According to Tuesday's press release, a jury found 39-year-old Charles Barrett guilty of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact in February.
Phillip Talbert, the U.S. attorney who prosecuted the case, explained that Barrett's "long history of sexual violence supports the imposition of a life sentence." Talbert explained that Barrett used his status to assault women within the rock climbing community to not just abuse them, but keep them silent. "This case is a testament to the courage of the victims who reported these crimes," he said.
Charles Barrett's crimes
In court, prosecutors said Barrett assaulted a 19-year-old woman three times during a weekend trip to the rock climbing mecca in August 2016. According to court documents, Barrett isolated the teen on Aug. 13, 2016, in the woods and "forcibly raped her" and "strangled her to the point that she feared death." The next day, he assaulted her again despite her resistance and then again later in the day in the shower.
After his victim returned home, she confronted Barrett about the rape via text message to which he replied that she "liked it." In the years that followed, Barrett sent her text messages saying he knew her whereabouts and he'd call and hang up using burner phones. He also took steps to prevent her from getting a job and harassed her on social media.
Prosecutors also told the court that Barrett abused more women throughout the years, but the incidents happened outside of their jurisdiction, so they could not prosecute. In one instance, prosecutors say he touched a woman while she was asleep at a friend's house in March 2010. When she rejected him, he began threatening her for years. So much so that he was convicted of making criminal threats in 2022. That woman testified at the federal trial.
In another case, Barrett "strangled and raped" a woman the first night they met in January 2015. She told authorities that she thought, "If I stop breathing and die, someone will find out . . . I remember getting to the point, thinking, if he kills me, this is it." The next morning, Barrett told the woman: "I know I raped you."
Charles Barrett climbing on a boulder in Mammoth, California, for a video published in 2013. Credit: DPM Climbing/Vimeo
The sentencing report
In the sentencing report, prosecutors described Barrett as refusing to "accept responsibility for his crimes" since his conviction in February. They also argued that he attempted to obstruct justice during an investigation by characterizing the women he abused as "not sane" and trying to "ruin his life."
Prosecutors also said that during his time in custody, Barrett made hundreds of calls to threaten his victims with violence and lawsuits. During a 2022 call, he said, "something will happen ... [to the victim] that's for sure ... in the courts or not." And in another call in 2023, he told his father that he wanted to get "legal revenge" on the women.
Outside magazine reported that Barrett, a California native, started climbing when he was 14 years old. While he quickly became obsessed with the sport, he also excelled at it. Then, over the years, he started getting major climbs, sponsors, and even published three climbing books.
In Barrett's defense, his attorneys asked for a sentence of 188 months in prison (which he didn't get). They argued that prosecutors overstated his criminal history, saying a trespass conviction and domestic violence conviction should have been assessed differently because they happened 20 and 16 years ago.
Barrett's attorneys also shared multiple character references by friends and family, describing him as "a man of unwavering integrity, kindness, and moral fortitude." They also claim he suffers from "depression and anxiety" as well as "bipolar disorder."
According to federal sentencing guidelines, an overwhelming majority of sex offenders receive 191 months in prison. However, prosecutors argued that Barrett "has demonstrated he cannot be rehabilitated or deterred, thus making him a danger to society — and to his victims — for the rest of his life."
