Colorado trail predator sentenced to prison for flashing, groping hikers

An Evergreen man was sentenced Thursday to at least eight years in prison for a pattern of terrorizing women on Jefferson County trails, according to court records and the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.

Glenn Thompson Braden IV, 21, was captured by Jefferson County deputies after a series of unwanted sexual encounters on county trails reported by female hikers who said a man exposed himself, masturbated in front of them and groped or attempted to grope.

In August 2023, when hikers reported another such incident in Genesee Park near Golden, officers spread through the park and arrested Braden after a foot chase.

In a news release, the district attorney’s office described how Braden was involved in similar incidents in South Carolina between 2019 and 2020, which Deputy District Attorney Allie Galvan said was evidence of a years-long trend of escalating, aggressive behavior.

“He became bolder with each contact and attempted to rip the clothing off one of his latest victims,” she said in the news release. “This is someone who has been given an opportunity for diversion and treatment for similar behavior, and has admitted to having a compulsion that he cannot control.”

Investigators said Braden told them he didn’t remember much of what happened because he was high on marijuana at the time, but said he felt “compelled” to commit the sex crimes, which occurred during about a dozen separate incidents between April and August 2023.

Braden was charged with four counts of unlawful sexual contact and one count of attempted sexual assault, all felonies, as well as nine counts of indecent exposure, a misdemeanor, and criminal mischief, a minor misdemeanor.

In August, he pleaded guilty to each count of attempted sexual assault, unlawful sexual contact and indecent exposure.

He was sentenced Thursday to eight years to life in Colorado’s Department of Corrections, plus indefinite parole, Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Brionna Boatright wrote in an email.