Nathan Chasing Horse appears in North Las Vegas court charged with child abuse and sexual assault
BREAKING NEWS: Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, appears in North Las Vegas court charged with child abuse, sexual assault and human trafficking: Family is supporting the disgraced actor
Nathan Chasing Horse has appeared in North Las Vegas court charged with sexual assault and rape -with his family out in force to support him.
The 46-year-old, who appeared in Dances With Wolves, did not speak at the hearing and will appear again later this week to have his attorney in the matter confirmed.
He was remanded in custody and will remain behind bars until the hearing on February 8th, where he is expected to be arraigned on the charges.
Judge Craig Newman set a preliminary hearing date for February 22 but did not set bail in the case despite Chasing Horse being represented by a public defender.
He is expected to retain his own counsel for the next appearance on February 8th, with the judge urging that the case ‘move forward’ as well as I could.
The 46-year-old did not speak at the hearing and will appear again later this week to have his attorney in the matter confirmed
Chasing Horse is charged with two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sex trafficking an adult, sexual assault of a child less than 16 years old and one charge of child abuse or neglect.
He is accused of being the leader of a cult called ‘The Circle’, which would groom and rape young women and girls.
Several members of his family were in the courtroom for his first appearance and were seen talking to his lawyer after the hearing.
Wearing glasses and a blue prison-issued jumpsuit, Chasing Horse had his long hair scraped back as he remained handcuffed during the hearing.
He is accused of running a cult that sexually abused young indigenous girls at his Las Vegas home – which he is said to share with five wives.
Sources have also claimed that he had ‘suicide pills’ in case police stormed his home in Nevada where he was arrested on Tuesday.
Chasing Horse allegedly also trained his wives to use firearms, so they could ‘open fire’ on cops if they ever swooped on his property.
During the raid, police found memory cards with videos of the sexual assaults, firearms, 41 pounds of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms in the home.
The Native American actor, 46, appeared in North Las Vegas Justice Court and was remanded in custody without bail. He was handcuffed at the waist and did not appear to be shackled
Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, was known for his role as Smiles a Lot – a young Sioux tribe member in the 1990 Oscar-winning film Dances With Wolves
Attorney Michael Wilfong, second right, representing former actor Nathan Lee Chasing speaks to family members outside the courtroom on February 6
At least two women told police that Chasing Horse had shown his wives a stash of ‘small white pills’ that he called ‘suicide pills’ sometime in 2019 or 2020, years before his arrest.
The women were instructed to ‘take a pill to kill themselves in the event he dies or law enforcement tries to break their family apart,’ according to the warrant.
Chasing Horse, who appeared in Dances With Wolves, will next appear on February 6 and was supported in court by several members of his family
One of Chasing Horse’s former wives also told police that she believed his current wives would ‘carry out the instructions’ to take the pills and open fire on law enforcement if officers came to the home to arrest him.
The Native American played Smiles a Lot in the 1990 Oscar-winning film, Dances With Wolves and was arrested as part of a months-long investigation.
He was banned by tribal leaders from the Fort Peck Reservation amid human trafficking allegations after gaining a reputation among tribes across the US and Canada.
Chasing Horse was well known to the tribes as a ‘Medicine Man’ or ‘Holy Person,’ with those roles being highly regarded within Native American spiritual traditions and belief systems.
Police have accused him of using his reputation ‘as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions,’ according to an arrest warrant, which noted that his followers believed he could communicate with higher beings.
Chasing Horse (right) is seen in 1999 taking part in a symbolic journey, carrying a sacred bundle from Rapid City, South Dakota, to Yellowstone National Park to raise awareness of the importance of bison
Police allege he also used his position to abuse young Native American girls, some as young as 13. Pictured: Chasing Horse in the movie Dances With Wolves
One of Chasing Horse’s wives was allegedly offered to him as a ‘gift’ when she was 15, while another became a wife after turning 16.
Court documents show that one victim reported the actor in September 2018, saying the incident took place in British Columbia.
She claims that she reached out to him for medical advice, and he healed her family member and encouraged her to join ‘The Circle’.
Chasing Horse told her that she was ‘different and special’ before adopting her as his granddaughter in a ‘spiritual way’.
He showered her with lavish gifts, with three of his wives asking her to call them ‘grandma’ and recalls his fourth wife – who was 15 at the time – being presented to him in an offering ceremony.
One of his wives told investigators that he raped her when she was just nine years old, according to documents.
In 2015 another victim came forward to report an assault which took place in 2014, but the case was closed without detectives approaching him.
Las Vegas police have identified at least six alleged victims, with claims dating back to the early 2000s in multiple states – including Montana, South Dakota and Nevada
His daughter Quannah attended The Met Gala last May
The detective explained in the report: ‘Because during the sexual incident [the victim] did not say no, push away, yell or run away, I found that I did not believe it could be prosecuted in court.’
His victim in that instance, said that she was told she should be ‘thankful’ that she was being assaulted by Chasing Horse.
Detectives also discovered that the actor had been accused of assaulting two children in Fort Peck, Montana, in 2005.
He told authorities ‘we will see’ when asked to take a polygraph test before refusing to speak to the police. Ultimately, he was never charged.
Chasing Horse moved to North Las Vegas in 2012 and told another victim to come with him, to bring cash and gifts to him.
He told her that she was ‘going to be of service’ and she would have to ‘offer her body to the spirits’ to save a family member.
The actor is also accused of forcing the victim to engage in sex acts with other men for several months – as well as forcing several of his other wives into sex trafficking.
On January 23, North Las Vegas police were notified of a victim who reported she was a victim of sex trafficking while she lived with Chasing Horse as his wife in Clark County.
Las Vegas police were investigating the actor’s home in the north of the Nevada city for hours after he was taken into custody, searching the property.
He has since been arrested for allegedly running a cult that sexually abused young indigenous girls at his Las Vegas home – which he is said to share with five wives
His daughter Quannah Rose Chasinghorse, 20, is an IMG model and Native American activist
Several SWAT officers were seen outside the two-story home as detectives carried out their search.
No resistance was reported by the police when they entered the property, or when they arrested the actor near his home.
His arrest is the culmination of a months-long investigation that began after police received a tip in October 2022, according to a 50-page search warrant.
Las Vegas police have identified at least six alleged victims, with claims dating back to the early 2000s in multiple states – including Montana, South Dakota and Nevada.
He 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.
Some of the alleged victims were as young as 13, according to the warrant, and one woman claimed online that she was first raped by the star when she was just 14.
Corena Leone called the actor a ‘predator‘ who demanded that she give her virginity to him and the life of her firstborn to help her mother, who had been diagnosed with stage 4 cancer.
A second woman has also posted similar claims online, though has not revealed her identity.
After meeting Chasing Horse in 2011, and says she was sexually assaulted by him in 2014 when she was just a child and has now launched a ‘campaign of awareness’.
Corena, who posted her claims online in September, says she called Chasing Horse and other men ‘grandfather’ – with the actor telling her she had to ‘give up’ her virginity to help her mother.
The daughter of Chasing Horse, Quannah Rose Chasing Horse, also shared support with Corena back in September.
The IMG model and activist says that she was brought up by her mother and step-father in Alaska and had nothing to do with him – despite having his name.