A well-known rock climber has been exposed as a 'monster' sex predator who used his fame to lure women to Yosemite to be raped. 40-year-old Charles Barrett was sentenced to life in prison for two counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of abusive sexual contact for repeatedly raping a woman in August 2016 at the iconic national park.
Barrett, who worked and lived in Yosemite, sexually assaulted a 19-year-old woman three separate times during a weekend in 2016. He lured the victim to an isolated area and 'strangled her to the point that she feared death' while he raped her, according to his sentencing memo. Three more women testified in court and shared similar stories about Barrett sexually abusing them in 2010, 2015, and 2016, SF Gate reported. Although the testimonies of the three additional women were considered 'relevant to the charged assaults, Barrett was not charged for their assaults because they were outside of federal jurisdiction. Barrett was hit with federal charges because Yosemite is property of the US government.
The disgraced rock climber initiated the sexual assault against the then 19-year-old woman by "aggressively kissing her...not slowing down or stopping when she asked, ripping out her nose ring when she tried to create distance, and continuing even though she straightened out her arm and pressed it against [his] chest and told him to stop," Kristy McGee, a special agent in the National Park Service’s Investigative Services Branch said. Barrett then started to strangle the victim to the point where she didn't know if she lost consciousness or not. The unidentified victim told investigators that Barrett proceeded to assault her two more times while she stayed with him because she feared for her life and was in a frozen state.
On January 6, 2017, the woman drove to the Sebastopol Police Department and told police that Barrett was at her home, refusing to leave. That same night, authorities responded to her residence at least two additional times for similar conduct, including her report that Barrett was physically attempting to break into her house. The next day, the police responded to her home again after she called and said that Barrett returned and was trying to break in again. When officers arrived, Barrett lied about his identity and was arrested after he handed over his ID. For that, he was charged with trespassing, unauthorized entry of dwelling and disorderly conduct. Although he faced six months in prison, Barrett pleaded no contest to trespassing and was sentenced to 24 months probation, while the two other charges were dropped.
Soon after he was arrested for lying about his identity to cops, the woman told authorities that he threatened to commit suicide when he arrived at her home unannounced. On an unspecified date, Defendant showed up at [victim’s] house with suicidal ideations. When they were alone, Defendant pinned [her] to the ground with his full body weight so that she was unable to move or breathe, then sexually assaulted her while she told him to get off her, according to court documents.
U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said that Barrett continued to harass his victims with threats when they tried to report him. "He used his status as a prominent climber to assault women in the rock-climbing community, and when his victims began to tell, Barrett responded by lashing out publicly with threats and intimidation,'"Talbert said. "This case is a testament to the courage of the victims who reported these crimes."
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