Famous free solo climber sentenced to life in prison after raping woman on hike in Yosemite National Park

A famous Californian climber has been sentenced to life in prison for repeatedly sexually assaulting a woman while hiking in Yosemite National Park.

Charles Barrett, 40, used his reputation in the sport “to attack women in the climbing community, and when his victims began to talk about it, Barrett responded with public threats and intimidation,” prosecutors said.

After his arrest, Barrett also made more than 100 phone calls from prison to harass the woman and other alleged victims.

Barrett was found guilty in February of two counts of aggravated sexual abuse and one count of abusive sexual contact and was sentenced on Tuesday by a federal judge in Sacramento.

Prosecutors say Barrett sexually assaulted his 19-year-old victim three times over a weekend in 2016.

A sentencing memorandum in the case said Barrett once lured her to a secluded area of ​​the park and “strangled her so severely during the attack that she was scared to death.”

Three other women testified they were sexually abused by Barrett in 2010, 2015 and 2016, SFGATE reported.

Prosecutors told the court that Barrett showed no “remorse or regret” for the calls. Court records state that during one call in May, Barrett called the allegations against him “wild” and “crazy.” He described them as “random girls saying whatever they wanted.”

“Barrett’s calls for prison time continue to demonstrate a complete lack of remorse and a victim mentality that cannot be rehabilitated,” the officials said in the document.