Former Dances With Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse 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 of 13 charges, mostly related to sexual assault.
The victims, including a woman who was 14 when the assaults began, told the court of the lasting trauma and struggle with their faith after Chasing Horse exploited his position as a spiritual leader. He denied the charges, calling the proceedings a 'miscarriage of justice'.
Chasing Horse was first arrested and indicted in 2023, leading to further charges in Canada. The British Columbia Prosecution Service confirmed a sexual assault charge from 2018, while a warrant remains outstanding in Alberta. Those cases are pending.
Born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on women, prosecutors said. During the trial, one victim described how he told her the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her cancer-stricken mother.
