NOVEMBER 14, 2024:
OCTOBER 31, 2024:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A grand jury in Nevada has again indicted Nathan Chasing Horse on charges that he sexually abused Indigenous women and girls for decades, reviving a sweeping criminal case against the former “Dances with Wolves” actor.
The 21-count indictment unsealed Thursday (Oct. 31, 2024) in Clark County District Court, which includes Las Vegas, again charges the 48-year-old with sexual assault, lewdness and kidnapping. It also adds felony charges of producing and possessing child sexual abuse materials.
It comes after the Nevada Supreme Court in September ordered the dismissal of Chasing Horse’s original indictment, while leaving open the possibility for charges to be refiled. The court sided with Chasing Horse, saying in its scathing order that prosecutors had abused the grand jury process.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson quickly vowed to seek another indictment.
The initial 18-count indictment charged Chasing Horse with more than a dozen felonies. He had pleaded not guilty.
His lawyer, Kristy Holston, had also argued that the case should be dismissed because, the former actor said, the sexual encounters were consensual. One of his accusers was younger than 16, the age of consent in Nevada, when the abuse began, according to the indictment.
Neither Wolfson nor Holston immediately responded Thursday to phone or emailed requests for comment.
Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 movie “Dances with Wolves,” Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
After starring in the Oscar-winning film, authorities have said, he propped himself up as a self-proclaimed Lakota medicine man while traveling around North America to perform healing ceremonies.
He is accused of using that position to gain the trust of vulnerable Indigenous women and girls, lead a cult and take underage wives.
Chasing Horse’s arrest last January reverberated around Indian Country and helped law enforcement in the U.S. and Canada corroborate long-standing allegations against him, leading to more criminal charges, including on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. Tribal leaders had banished Chasing Horse in 2015 from the reservation amid allegations of human trafficking.
He has remained jailed in Las Vegas since his arrest.
When the Nevada Supreme Court ordered the dismissal of Chasing Horse’s indictment, the judges said they were not weighing in on his guilt or innocence, calling the allegations against him serious. But the court said that prosecutors improperly provided the grand jury with a definition of grooming without expert testimony, and faulted them for withholding from the grand jury inconsistent statements made by one of his accusers.
Chasing Horse’s legal issues have been unfolding at the same time lawmakers and prosecutors around the U.S. are funneling more resources into cases involving Native women, including human trafficking and murders.
OCTOBER 8, 2024:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Federal prosecutors in Nevada have quietly dismissed a long-dormant sex abuse case against Nathan Chasing Horse, though the former “Dances with Wolves” actor still faces criminal charges elsewhere.
The federal case was tossed Oct. 1, 2024, just as state prosecutors were finalizing the dismissal of their own indictment against Chasing Horse under an order from the Nevada Supreme Court.
The back-to-back dismissals are a stunning development for a legal saga that began with Las Vegas police arresting Chasing Horse and raiding his home last January, leading to the state’s 18-count indictment in Clark County District Court.
His arrest, which sent shockwaves throughout Indian Country, was quickly followed by more criminal charges in four other jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada. That includes the now-dismissed federal case accusing him of sexually exploiting minors and possessing child sexual abuse material, charges that stemmed from the same allegations that led to his arrest.
Chasing Horse still faces criminal charges in Canada, on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, and in Las Vegas.
Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves,” Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
In the decades since starring in the Oscar-winning movie, authorities say he built a reputation as a self-proclaimed medicine man among tribes and traveled around North America to perform healing ceremonies.
He’s accused of using that position to gain access to vulnerable girls and women starting in the early 2000s, leading a cult and taking underage wives.
Federal prosecutors took no action in their case against Chasing Horse after filing the charges in February 2023, court records show. They moved to dismiss the case on Sept. 27 — a day after the Nevada high court ordered the dismissal of Chasing Horse’s indictment in state court — but did not detail in court filings why they wanted to dismiss the case.
Both the state and federal cases were dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can refile the charges. Federal prosecutor Steven Rose didn’t immediately respond to an email Monday (Oct. 7, 2024) asking if the U.S. government intends to do so. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said his office will refile the charges in state court, which included sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and child abuse.
State prosecutors on Friday filed a new case in Las Vegas against Chasing Horse that accuses him of filming himself having sex with one of his accusers when she was younger than 14. He is being held in the custody of Las Vegas police on $200,000 bail.
In at least one video, the girl was “fully passed out,” prosecutor William Rowles said Monday in court.
Rowles said the footage, taken in 2010 or 2011, were found on cellphones in a locked safe inside the North Las Vegas home that Chasing Horse is said to have shared with five wives, including the girl in the videos.
His defense attorney, Kristy Holston, declined to comment on the new case or the dismissal of the federal charges. Rowles also said he had no comment.
The Nevada Supreme Court in late September sided with Chasing Horse, after his attorney successfully argued that a definition of grooming — presented to the grand jury without expert testimony — had tainted the state’s case, and that prosecutors should have shared with the grand jury inconsistent statements made by one of the victims.
Chasing Horse has been jailed in Las Vegas since his arrest last January. But the case had been at a standstill for more than a year while he challenged it.
SEPTEMBER 26, 2024:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has ordered the dismissal of a sprawling sex abuse indictment against Nathan Chasing Horse, while leaving open the possibility of charges being refiled in a case that sent shockwaves throughout Indian Country and led to more criminal charges in the U.S. and Canada.
Proceedings in the 18-count criminal case have been at a standstill for more than a year while the former “Dances with Wolves” actor challenged it. The full seven-member court’s decision, issued Thursday (Sept. 26, 2024), reverses earlier rulings upholding the charges by a three-member panel of the high court and a state judge.
Kristy Holston, the chief deputy public defender representing Chasing Horse, had argued that a definition of grooming presented to the grand jury without expert testimony tainted the state’s case. Holston said prosecutors also failed to provide the grand jury with evidence that could have cast a doubt on the allegations against Chasing Horse, including what she described as inconsistent statements made by one of the victims.
The high court agreed.
“The combination of these two clear errors undermines our confidence in the grand jury proceedings and created intolerable damage to the independent function of the grand jury process,” the court said in its scathing order.
The ruling directs the judge overseeing the case in Clark County District Court to dismiss the indictment without prejudice, meaning charges against Chasing Horse can be refiled. But the order for dismissal won’t take effect immediately, as prosecutors also have the option to ask the high court to reconsider within 25 days.
“The allegations against Chasing Horse are indisputably serious, and we express no opinion about Chasing Horse’s guilt or innocence,” the order says.
Holston declined to comment. District Attorney Steve Wolfson, in a statement Thursday (Sept. 26, 2024), described the court’s decision as “only a minor setback.”
“My office is committed to resurrecting the charges in this case,” Wolfson said, “and we will not rest until we obtain justice on behalf of the victims in this matter.”
Chasing Horse is charged with sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and child abuse. He has pleaded not guilty.
The 48-year-old has been in custody since his arrest last January near the North Las Vegas home he is said to have shared with five wives. He is unlikely to be released from custody, even after the high court’s decision, because he faces charges in at least four other jurisdictions, including U.S. District Court in Nevada and on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana.
Chasing Horse is best known for portraying Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves.” But in the decades since starring in the Oscar-winning movie, authorities said, he built a reputation as a self-proclaimed medicine man among tribes and traveled around North America to perform healing ceremonies.
He is accused of using that position to gain access to vulnerable girls and women starting in the early 2000s, leading a cult and taking underage wives. Authorities have said one of the wives was offered to Chasing Horse as a “gift” when she was 15, while another “became a wife” after turning 16.
Chasing Horse also is accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging sex with the victims for other men who allegedly paid him.
His legal issues have been unfolding at the same time lawmakers and prosecutors around the U.S. are funneling more resources into cases involving Native women, including human trafficking and murders. Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
JANUARY 18, 2024:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court won’t reconsider former “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse’s request to dismiss an indictment that accuses him of leading a cult, taking underage wives and sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls. The state high court’s decision on Tuesday (Jan. 16, 2024) means prosecutors in Las Vegas can proceed with their 18-count criminal case. The 47-year-old Chasing Horse has been in custody since his arrest in January 2023 near the North Las Vegas home he’s said to have shared with five wives. He has pleaded not guilty to charges including sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and child abuse. He also faces criminal charges in several other jurisdictions.
DECEMBER 19, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Nevada Supreme Court has ruled (Dec. 19, 2023) that prosecutors in Las Vegas can proceed with their criminal case against “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse. Prosecutors accuse Chasing Horse of taking underage wives as the leader of a cult known as The Circle. The 18-count indictment accuses him of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls for decades. But Chasing Horse and his lawyers argued that the sexual encounters were consensual. Proceedings in the case came to a halt earlier this year after Chasing Horse filed his appeal to the Nevada Supreme Court. He remains in custody at a county jail in Las Vegas and faces sexual abuse charges in four other jurisdictions.
JUNE 15, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Canadian authorities announced this week that Nathan Chasing Horse has been charged in the province of Alberta with sexual assault and sexual exploitation. The nine new charges mark the latest criminal case to be brought against the former “Dances With Wolves” actor. He has been jailed in Las Vegas since his arrest Jan. 31, 2023, in southern Nevada that stunned Indian Country and has helped law enforcement in other jurisdictions corroborate long-standing allegations against him. Canadian authorities said Wednesday that the crimes in their jurisdiction date back to 2005. Chasing Horse’s public defender in Las Vegas said Wednesday (June 14, 2023) she has no comment on the Alberta case.
MAY 10, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse is asking the Nevada Supreme Court to dismiss his sweeping sexual abuse indictment in state court. The 46-year-old is charged with 18 felonies accusing him of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls for more than a decade. Chasing Horse and lawyers argue that his accusers wanted to have sex with him. His appeal filed Tuesday (May 9, 2023) marks his latest attempt to end the case after a Nevada judge upheld Chasing Horse’s indictment last month. The judge ruled that prosecutors presented enough evidence for a reasonable grand jury to return an indictment on charges of sexual assault, kidnapping and child abuse. Chasing Horse’s trial was set to start May 1, 2023, but has been put on hold indefinitely while he appeals.
APRIL 13, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — The sexual abuse trial of a “Dances With Wolves” actor charged in Nevada is on hold indefinitely. A sweeping indictment accuses Nathan Chasing Horse of abusing Indigenous women and girls for more than a decade in the Las Vegas area. The 46-year-old’s trial was supposed to start May 1 (2023) because he invoked his right to a trial within 60 days of his indictment. But state Judge Carli Kierny delayed the trial until the Nevada Supreme Court decides if it will grant Chasing Horse’s request to dismiss the indictment. Chasing Horse is appealing to the high court after Kierny denied a similar request last week and upheld his sexual abuse charges. Police and prosecutors say Chasing Horse has been leading a cult known as The Circle and taking underage wives since the early 2000s.
April 7, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada judge has tossed a drug trafficking charge against a “Dances With Wolves” actor but upheld the sweeping sexual abuse charges that Nathan Chasing Horse faces in state court. He’s accused of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls for decades. Chasing Horse wanted his entire 19-count indictment thrown out. He said in his motion that his accusers in Nevada had wanted to have sex with him. One of the women was younger than 16 when she says Chasing Horse started abusing her. Chasing Horse is widely known for playing the role of Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 film. Trial is set for May 1, 2023, in Las Vegas.
APRIL 5, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A “Dances With Wolves” actor accused of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls for decades is asking a judge in Nevada to dismiss a 19-count indictment against him. The judge said Wednesday (April 4, 2023) that she will make a decision by the end of the week. Nathan Chasing Horse claims two women identified as victims in Nevada wanted to have sex with him. One of them was younger than 16 when she says the abuse began. Chasing Horse is known for his role as Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 film. Prosecutors say he used his position as a self-proclaimed medicine man to gain access to vulnerable women and girls starting in the early 2000s.
APRIL 4, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Nevada judge has postponed the trial for a former “Dances With Wolves” actor indicted on charges that he sexually abused Indigenous women and girls for a decade in the Las Vegas area. The judge says the trial in the case of Nathan Chasing Horse will start May 1, 2023, instead of April 17. Chasing Horse has pleaded not guilty to 19 counts that include sexual assault of a child, kidnapping, lewdness and child abuse. The former actor is due back in court Wednesday for a hearing on his motion asking the judge to throw out his indictment. Chasing Horse and his lawyers have argued that two women identified as victims in Nevada wanted to have sex with him.
MARCH 1, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — A former “Dances With Wolves” actor pleaded not guilty Wednesday (March 1, 2023) to state charges that he sexually abused Indigenous women and girls for a decade in Nevada.
Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, appeared briefly in Clark County District Court following his indictment last week on 19 charges, including sexual assault, first-degree kidnapping and drug trafficking.
He has been jailed in Las Vegas on $300,000 bond since his arrest Jan. 31, 2023, near the home in North Las Vegas that he shared with five women he described as his wives.
Authorities describe Chasing Horse as the leader of a cult known as The Circle who took underage wives. They allege that at the time of his arrest he was grooming young girls to replace his older wives.
Born on the Rosebud Indian Reservation in South Dakota, Chasing Horse is widely known for his role as Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film.
His arrest by Las Vegas police followed a monthslong probe that officials said was prompted by a tip from Canadian authorities investigating Chasing Horse in connection with a 2018 rape allegation in British Columbia.
Authorities in Las Vegas allege that his crimes in Nevada spanned a decade. According to court documents, they also uncovered a pattern of sexual abuse dating back to the early 2000s across multiple states, including Montana and South Dakota, as well as Canada.
Documents show at least six victims have been identified, including one who said she was 13 when sexual abuse began, and another who said she was offered to Chasing Horse as a “gift” when she was 15.
Criminal cases against Chasing Horse are mounting, and he now faces charges in four jurisdictions — in state court in Las Vegas, in U.S. District Court in Nevada, in British Columbia and on the Fort Peck Reservation in northeastern Montana.
Inside Chasing Horse’s home, court documents say detectives found firearms, psilocybin mushrooms, 41 pounds of marijuana and two cellphones containing videos and photos of underage girls being sexually assaulted. The footage led to federal child pornography charges.
FEBRUARY 9, 2023:
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — A former “Dances With Wolves” actor at the center of a sweeping sexual abuse probe in Nevada and Canada was charged Wednesday afternoon (Feb. 8, 2023) with federal crimes. Nathan Chasing Horse faces two counts of sexual exploitation of children and one count of child pornography. The new charges add to a growing list of criminal cases filed against the 46-year-old since his arrest on Jan. 31 near Las Vegas. In the Nevada case, he is charged with eight felonies, including sex trafficking and sexual assault. The federal charges came just hours after a North Las Vegas judge set bail in the state case at $300,000. If he posts bond, he will likely be taken into federal custody. His public defender hasn’t commented on the new charges.
FEBRUARY 8, 2023, UPDATE:
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — Bail has been set at $300,000 for a former “Dances With Wolves” actor charged in Nevada with sexually abusing and trafficking Indigenous women and girls. The judge said Wednesday (Feb. 8, 2023) that Nathan Chasing Horse can’t go home but must stay with a relative if he is released from jail. He would be electronically monitored and have no access to drugs, alcohol or firearms. He must have no contact with alleged victims or minors. The 46-year-old Chasing Horse has been charged in Nevada with eight felonies including sexual assault, sex trafficking and child abuse. He was arrested Jan. 31, 2023, near the North Las Vegas home that he shares with five women he identifies as his wives.
FEBRUARY 8, 2023:
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Canadian police say they are pursuing their own sexual assault case against a former “Dances With Wolves” actor who was arrested last week in Nevada and charged with sexually abusing and trafficking Indigenous women and girls for decades. Nathan Chasing Horse is accused in a 2018 sexual assault in a British Columbia village near the United States border. Sgt. Kris Clark of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police confirmed Tuesday (Feb. 7, 2023) that they issued a warrant for Chasing Horse’s arrest in Canada last week. He didn’t release more details about the 2018 crime. Chasing Horse is set to appear Wednesday morning in a North Las Vegas courtroom for a detention hearing.
FEBRUARY 6, 2023:
NORTH LAS VEGAS, Nev. (AP) — The bail hearing was postponed Monday (Feb. 6, 2023) for a Native American former “Dances With Wolves” actor who is accused of sexually abusing and trafficking Indigenous girls.
The delay until Wednesday to allow Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, to change lawyers was announced in a North Las Vegas courtroom full of his friends and relatives who had hoped to see him released on bail.
Chasing Horse, who also uses the name Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, played the role of young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 Oscar-winning film.
Since then, Chasing Horse built a reputation among tribes across the United States and in Canada as a “medicine man” who performs healing ceremonies.
He was the focus of a monthslong investigation into allegations of sex trafficking, sexual assault and child abuse before he was arrested Jan. 31, 2023, near the North Las Vegas home that he shares with several wives. He has not been formally charged in the case.
He was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, nearly a decade ago following similar allegations.
Chasing Horse appeared briefly in court last Thursday, but did not speak as his public defenders invoked his right to a detention hearing. Nevada law requires prosecutors to present convincing evidence that a defendant should remain in custody.
Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney Jessica Walsh told the judge Thursday that she expected testimony from Las Vegas police detectives, FBI special agents and victims.
A North Las Vegas justice of the peace could also hear from Chasing Horse’s relatives, who last week filled an entire row in the courtroom gallery in a show of support.
Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
Las Vegas police said the allegations against Chasing Horse date to the early 2000s and span multiple states including South Dakota, Montana and Nevada, where he has lived for about a decade.
In a 50-page search warrant obtained by The Associated Press, police described Chasing Horse as the leader of a cult known as The Circle, whose followers believed he could communicate with higher powers.
Police said he abused his position, physically and sexually assaulted Indigenous girls, and took underage wives over two decades.
According to the police warrant, Chasing Horse trained his wives to use firearms and instructed them to “shoot it out” with any authorities who tried to “break their family apart.” If that failed, or if he was ever arrested or died unexpectedly, he told his wives to take “suicide pills,” the document said.
Police SWAT officers and detectives took Chasing Horse into custody last week and searched the family’s home. Investigators found guns, 41 pounds (18.5 kilograms) of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, and a memory card with multiple videos of sexual assaults, according to an arrest report that said additional charges could be filed related to the videos.
Las Vegas police said at least six victims had been identified, including one who was 13 when she said she was abused, and another who said she was offered to Chasing Horse as a “gift” when she was 15.
FEBRUARY 2, 2023, UPDATE:
Extended version:
FEBRUARY 2, 2023:
FEBRUARY 1, 2023:
NORTH LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police have arrested former actor Nathan Chasing Horse at his home after uncovering what they describe as two decades of sexual assault and human trafficking allegations. Chasing Horse is known for his role in the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner film “Dances With Wolves.” Police say he built a reputation for himself among tribes across the United States and Canada as a so-called medicine man and used his position to abuse young Native American girls. Chasing Horse is accused of sexually assaulting girls as young as 13 and taking wives as young as 15. Police say the assaults occurred in multiple states, including Nevada, and in Canada. No lawyer was immediately listed for him Tuesday (Jan. 31, 2023) in court records.
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