Nathan Chasing Horse, the actor best known for his role in Dances With Wolves, has been sentenced to life in prison for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls. A Nevada judge handed down the sentence on Monday after a jury convicted him on 13 charges, most related to sexual assault. The assaults involved three women, including one who was 14 years old when the abuse began.
During the sentencing hearing, accusers and their family members described ongoing trauma and a struggle to maintain their faith, as Chasing Horse exploited his position as a spiritual leader. Judge Jessica Peterson heard statements from victims before delivering the sentence. Chasing Horse, dressed in his detention centre uniform, denied the allegations, calling the conviction a 'miscarriage of justice'.
The conviction in Nevada is part of a broader legal battle. Chasing Horse faces additional charges in other states and Canada. In British Columbia, he was charged with sexual assault in February 2023 for an alleged offence in 2018, but that case is paused pending the US proceedings. A warrant also remains outstanding in Alberta, according to the Tsuut’ina Nation police service.
Chasing Horse, born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, gained fame playing a young Lakota warrior in the Oscar-winning film. Prosecutors argued that he used his reputation as a medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls for nearly two decades. One victim, Corena Leone-LaCroix, testified that he told her the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity at age 14 to save her mother from cancer, then sexually assaulted her and warned her not to disclose it.
