LAS VEGAS — A grand jury in Nevada has once again indicted Nathan Chasing Horse, who faces charges of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls over an extensive period. This renewed indictment involves 21 counts and was revealed on Thursday in Clark County District Court, located in Las Vegas. The 48-year-old former actor, known for his role in “Dances with Wolves,” is accused of serious offenses including sexual assault, lewdness, kidnapping, and new felony charges related to the production and possession of child sexual abuse materials.
The recent indictment comes after the Nevada Supreme Court had previously dismissed Chasing Horse’s original indictment in September. The court’s decision also left the door open for prosecutors to refile charges, having determined that there was misuse of the grand jury process by the prosecution, which favored Chasing Horse’s side. Following this, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson promptly expressed his commitment to pursuing a new indictment against the former actor.
The initial charges against Chasing Horse included 18 counts, with numerous felonies, to which he had pleaded not guilty. His attorney, Kristy Holston, argued for the dismissal of the charges, maintaining that the sexual encounters were consensual. However, the indictment alleges that one of the victims was under 16 years old when the abuses began, a fact that raises significant legal concerns in relation to Nevada’s age of consent law. As of Thursday, neither Wolfson nor Holston had responded to requests for comments made via phone or email.
Chasing Horse, recognized for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the acclaimed 1990 film, was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, the ancestral land of the Sicangu Sioux, a part of the larger Lakota nation. Following his noteworthy performance in the movie, authorities allege he misrepresented himself as a Lakota medicine man, traveling across North America under the guise of conducting healing ceremonies.
He is accused of exploiting this role to build trust with vulnerable Indigenous women and girls, leading a cult-like group and taking underage brides. His arrest in January had a significant impact within Indian Country, assisting law enforcement agencies in both the U.S. and Canada in substantiating longstanding accusations against him, which have resulted in additional charges, including those on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. In 2015, tribal leaders had expelled Chasing Horse from the reservation following allegations of human trafficking.
Since his arrest, he has remained in jail in Las Vegas. The Nevada Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the earlier indictment did not imply any judgment on Chasing Horse’s actual guilt or innocence, acknowledging the serious nature of the allegations against him. However, the court pointed out that prosecutors had improperly instructed the grand jury on the definition of grooming without expert input and failed to disclose inconsistent statements from one of his accusers.
Chasing Horse’s legal troubles coincide with a broader trend where lawmakers and prosecutors across the United States are allocating more resources to cases involving Native women, focusing on issues such as human trafficking and murder.