Climber Charles Barrett Arrested for Yosemite Sexual Assaults

Any more hot takes on this obviously guilty and obviously disturbed individual?

This highlights that the climbing “community” isn’t immune to bias, sexism, racism, and all the other “isms” out there.

Climbing is cool, but not all climbers are cool.

Godspeed!

I hope he serves a long sentence at a federal penitentiary in a mountain state, where he can gaze at the mountains, past the fences and over the razor wire.

Leigh Shoffnerwrote:

I hope he serves a long sentence at a federal penitentiary in a mountain state, where he can gaze at the mountains, past the fences and over the razor wire.

Given his threats of retaliation and history of violence, he could end up serving at least some of his sentence at the Federal 'SuperMax' prison In Florence, CO, which fits that description. It is visible to the south of the highway when driving from Colorado Springs towards Shelf Road. It is NOT a 'country club' prison!!!!

Leigh Shoffnerwrote:

I hope he serves a long sentence at a federal penitentiary in a mountain state, where he can gaze at the mountains, past the fences and over the razor wire.

I hope he serves it in NJ. He shouldn't even get to see the mountains.

Dan Dwrote:

That's because you're not Andrew. 

If you are on someone's ignore list you cannot comment on their threads 

You’re correct of course. Totally missed that. Thanks!

NotSayin Sparrowwrote:

Dear Climbing Community, I am writing to you to give you my perspective of this story, as a victim of Charlie's crimes and as a Federally protected victim in this investigation. In this forum, I have yet to hear one of our voices, so I created a safe account to speak up. Danger and retribution is very real each time I speak out. First, I am not speaking for all victims, I am speaking for myself. Second, I would like to thank the author of this article for articulating the main problem with Charlie's case: how did this go on for so long? I would like to tell you how, and perhaps alleviate some guilt you might be having, or to comfort you if you are feeling sad and confused about this situation. Are you asking yourself: How could I have been friends with someone like this? How did I not know? You aren't alone. Charlie is exceptionally charismatic, powerful, and endearing. He is funny, talented, and strong. He's a great guy-- until he isn't. Then, unfortunately the nightmare begins. His victims have been living this nightmare for a long time, all while watching him glitter and thrive in the community. My heart goes out to the other victims, particularly to Bonnie Hedlund and Lonnie Kauk, whom he has been torturing relentlessly for at least a decade. I'm sorry.

Charlie has magnificent taste in friends and in women. I know personally many women he has dated and they are incredible people, beautiful and talented. I am a doctor (not explaining what type for safety or IDing purposes), for example and probably not the first doctor, or highly educated woman to date him. How could super educated, accomplished, awesome women fall for a high school drop-out felon? The same reason Alex Honnold, Michael Pang, Jackie Hueftle, and many other accomplished climbers and community members were/are under his spell. He is super cool, handsome (when he takes care of himself), and mesmerizing. A big part of me worries that he will use this charisma to charm and seduce the jurors in his trial, similar to how Jon Krakauer explains that Dan Lafferty seduced a juror with flirtatious gestures to avoid the death penalty during the trial of murdering Brenda Lafferty and her baby in his book "Under the Banner of Heaven." Charlie has that type of sway, and if you have warm, kind thoughts for him even after this Outside article was published, he has this sway on you too. Yes, you. 

Do not blame yourself. Charlie has schemed his entire life to work people over and work the system over, to manipulate people. He is PRO. If you are his friend, and you want to write a character reference for him to the judge (which is what people in Mammoth are rallying to do even as you read this), that is exactly what he has worked so hard to get you to do. However, before writing that letter about what a great guy he is, maybe consider what it would be like to sleep with him, to have a fun relationship and boulder together or climb in the desert and watch him annihilate 5.13 trad. Mesmerizing, right? Then consider him punching you in the stomach because you said or did something "wrong." Then consider his hands around your neck, unprovoked, and then losing consciousness. Then consider perhaps how close you were to losing your life, on "accident" because his eyes glazed over and he didn't know when to stop. This is the character reference angle you don't have if you are "just friends" and thank goodness you don't. Because it is horrific. Maybe put that pen down, stop writing that letter, and imagine what that could feel like. Then maybe write "I'm sorry" to his victims instead.

Unfortunately, this trial, either convicted or not, will not be the end of his reign of terror. He uses many people to create a web of lies and support for his innocence. His crew blackmails witnesses online, and publicly shames them (Stephanie Forte is a good example). He manipulates his friends and family (his dad) into calling and intimidating witnesses. Behind bars, his campaign of proving himself innocent will continue. He will continue to manipulate people into befriending him, dazzling them with his funny jokes and convincing them to be his arm to gut punch his victims from behind bars. If exonerated, he will stalk the victims and actively try to ruin their lives himself; after all, someone will have to pay for him being in prison without bail for over a year. This trial may serve justice, but does not end the nightmare. 

I want to thank Officer McGee for risking everything, including her and her family's well being to investigate Charlie. He has been exceptionally cruel to her and her loved ones in this process. She is very brave for taking him on and should be honored for her service to the community. I want to thank my friends for supporting me. I also want to thank my friends who once supported Charlie, saw the light, and apologized to me or the other victims. I want to apologize to and thank the people who warned me not to date Charlie, who I brushed off, because, ya know, he is so fun! I need forgiveness for this as well. I hope this trial brings healing to the community as a whole, and also opens our eyes to dangerous people sooner. I hope this article takes the wool from peoples eyes, allowing them to stop defending a monster, forgiving themselves for having done so, and moving forward with healing in the community. 

To anyone calling to lock this thread:  posts like this make up 1000% for all the other "noise" you have to wade through.  Please don't lock it again!

Tiffany Levine Campbellwrote:

This is the first line of defense and it’s done to the best of each person’s knowledge and ability but sometimes predators slip through …

This is a first line of defense, true. Still, it is a “voluntary” constraint on freedom. Meanwhile, predators are going to hunt until they find someone to victimize. Matters not how good or lucky the rest of us are at defense - I.e., giving up our freedoms - the predator is vigilant at predation. Edit: gravity never sleeps, eh.

I mean that in general, Tiffany, Just some things that have been on my mind.

When defenses fail, accountability comes next. In this case, it appears to have taken a general survey (!) and a few dedicated folks to eventually pin Barrett down to face it.  We as a community can do better as a line of defense rather than having to resort to accountability … after a decade+ of predation and a general survey.

Believe someone who describes being assaulted or at least be inquisitive and apply some thought as to whether to encourage and support action. Individually Improving that first line of defense won’t help the rest of us.

Tradibanwrote:

I wonder if the judge will consider how hard he climbs in the sentencing?

I do think this is healthy satire (except to the victims ofc...). 

Not repeating his point that "climbers are just ordinary folks who are very capable of being awful humans". I still wanna add that social media and climbing outlets have created a culture of worshiping hard climbers, which does affect how the community judge them. Also doesn't help how climbers overemphasize how awesome "the community" is, to a point of promoting blind trust that can totally backfire, from sth as minor as cache/gear got stolen to as serious as sexual abuse (look up what the victims (props to them) of the USA climbing coach sexual abuse cases said). 

The bottom line is, don't let the fact that "someone climbs (hard)" affect our judgements and safety precautions towards human interactions. 

Stoked Weekend Warriorwrote:

I still wanna add that social media and climbing outlets have created a culture of worshiping hard climbers, which does affect how the community judge them. Also doesn't help how climbers overemphasize how awesome "the community" is, to a point of promoting blind trust that can totally backfire, from sth as minor as cache/gear got stolen to as serious as sexual abuse (look up what the victims (props to them) of the USA climbing coach sexual abuse cases said). 

The bottom line is, don't let the fact that "someone climbs (hard)" affect our judgements and safety precautions towards human interactions. 

Besides how awful his predatory behavior was, that he was enabled by the good will in a community we are all in some way associated with makes it worse.

I feel betrayed and I never even met him. I would just see these hard, inspiring lines he put up at Lovers Leap and other Tahoe locales and think “damn!” I’d hear about some projects and his name was typically associated with them. I had a positive association with this crusher who puts up king lines in the areas I love.

I can only imagine the damage he has left around him amongst those who didn’t see beyond the facade and welcomed him into their circle. Now they must see how they were an accomplice to his behavior. More victims.

My depressing speculation is that his climbing ability probably had little to do with his ability to get away with it for so long, it just meant that his acquaintances were more notable than the average abuser. Anyone with a similar degree of connectedness in the climbing community could've had the same outcome.

I think people underestimate a) how successful his witness/victim intimidation campaign was at turning firsthand accounts into distant rumors and b) how much people are inclined to 'go along to get along' in a social scene.

The 'culture of worshipping hard climbers'--and 'brushing off' their anti-social behavior, has existed long before the advent of social media---though the latter has likely exacerbated this tendency. For just one example, consider British climber Don Whillans---the prototypical 'hard man' ---who was a domestic abuser and serial sexual aggressor, among other 'faults', without suffering any repercussions, either within or beyond the climbing community. If you are unfamiliar with this, read The Villain by Jim Perrin. 

Bill Lawrywrote:

This is a first line of defense, true. Still, it is a “voluntary” constraint on freedom. Meanwhile, predators are going to hunt until they find someone to victimize. Matters not how good or lucky the rest of us are at defense - I.e., giving up our freedoms - the predator is vigilant at predation. Edit: gravity never sleeps, eh.

I mean that in general, Tiffany, Just some things that have been on my mind.

When defenses fail, accountability comes next. In this case, it appears to have taken a general survey (!) and a few dedicated folks to eventually pin Barrett down to face it.  We as a community can do better as a line of defense rather than having to resort to accountability … after a decade+ of predation and a general survey.

Believe someone who describes being assaulted or at least be inquisitive and apply some thought as to whether to encourage and support action. Individually Improving that first line of defense won’t help the rest of us.

I helped report other victims and my friend  is a victim. I always take these things seriously.

Lowering your risk is a separate issue from the fact that victims are never at fault, they never make themselves be Attacked. A girl incapacitated in the hospital or children, they get attacked because they vulnerable and cannot defend themselves. I thought the guy above was trying to say in his way which everyone took issue with that he wanted girls to be less vulnerable and more able to defend themselves. That is a very good idea. The way that can be achieved is different for each person. It just seemed like everyone was throwing the baby out with the bathwater quick to attack comments without thinking.
Also the comment when the guy was being sarcastic. He was being snarky because past judge considered barretts climbing to be more important than the fact that he is a psychopathic criminal.
Predators are always criminal evil need to be put away. A separate point was made about trying to stay safer and lower risks. I’m not sure what each person considers freedoms for limiting risk that’s a personal choice.

Anyone else surprised by the lack of exposure this verdict is getting from pro climbers on social media?

You’d think such an important story like this would be shared across the board to raise awareness and give support, but besides Jon Krakauer I haven’t seen anything.

Can’t help but feel like this radio silence is a continuation of the problems that enabled Bartlett for so long; the “community” not getting involved because it’s too messy and would shatter the rosy, fun picture of climbing being overly represented on traditional/social media.

Tiffany Levine Campbellwrote:

Because bad people exist and you need to keep yourself safe from them.

I agree with this. This is the first line of defense and it’s done to the best of each person’s knowledge and ability but sometimes predators slip through …unfortunately this guy was trusted. Please continue to report if you know anything so that he will be sentenced for life!

Tiffany just to let you know, a lot of that Eric guy's posts were deleted, but his main solution was to never allow women to have sex outside of marriage. His arguments used a lot of false equivalences and other logical fallacies to get to this point. Again, it's impossible to see where this guy was coming from or going to. But I get the feeling that his idea for keeping women "safe" was by keeping women controlled. Just my take on it, and not something I could agree with. Again, it's lost in the mess of this thread, and I'm not interested for Eric to come back to clarify.

Anyone else surprised by the lack of exposure this verdict is getting from pro climbers on social media?

No. And Krakuer is not a pro climber. Pro climbers obsessed with "their image" know better than to throw stones in glass house, as a rule of thumb. Pro climbers talking shit in public about other pro climbers is not good for business, and its ALL about business. Those paying the bills don't like to pay for that sort of controversy.

I'm not saying its right (but it mostly, is) or applicable to this case (it shouldn't be).

This thread should be stickied for new MP users as a one-stop "who's who" of users to go ahead and ignore.

Austin Grantwrote:

This thread should be stickied for new MP users as a one-stop "who's who" of users to go ahead and ignore.

As a service to new users, why don’t you start naming user names and tell us why they should be ignored? Or are you just a fan of convicted serial rapists?

NotSayin Sparrow wrote:

I actually think this comment is brilliant…

Colonel Mustardwrote:

As a service to new users, why don’t you start naming user names and tell us why they should be ignored? Or are you just a fan of convicted serial rapists?

You read that one wrong, bud. But if you look back over the last 32-pages, you'll find a handful of people who ARE defending or explaining away this behavior. Start there with your ignore list. 

NotSayin Sparrow wrote:

I actually think this comment is brilliant because it reflects how we as a community have judged Charlie this entire time. We let him get away with mountains of despicable behavior because he is so talented. I'm guilty as charged. Absolutely. I know this was meant to be a trolling comment, but we should take a look at this comment and reflect. Are we judging people according to their entire persona, kindness, and service to the community or are we simply giving people passes based on V-grades? Like I said, I'm guilty of this in the past and learned my lesson the very hard way. 

And how about those fellas who said they would reserve judgement until after the verdict?? Where y’all at? 

It’s time to judge.