LAS VEGAS (AP) — Nathan Chasing Horse is expected to be sentenced Wednesday morning for sexually assaulting Native women and girls, bringing an end to a case that has shocked Indian Country.
About a month ago, a Nevada jury convicted the “Dances with Wolves” actor on 13 of 21 charges. Much of it related to his behavior towards a 14-year-old victim, when he began attacking her. Horse chasing companies were acquitted of some sexual assault charges.
He has denied the accusations, and his attorney, Craig Mueller, has questioned the credibility of the lead accuser, calling her a “scorned woman.”
He faces at least 25 years in prison.
After the trial, Mueller filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that the witness was not qualified to speak about the solicitation charge and that the statute of limitations had expired. The motion was denied.
The verdict ends a year-long struggle by the former actor after he was first arrested and charged in 2023. The initial arrests reverberated across Indian Country, with more criminal charges later filed by law enforcement in other states and Canada.
Charges pending in Canada
The British Columbia Prosecution Service said Chasing Horse was charged with sexual assault in February 2023, even though the alleged offense occurred in September 2018 near the village of Keremeos, about four hours east of Vancouver. In November 2023, the case was suspended due to horse chasing charges in the United States, but it resumed the following year.
B.C.’s prosecutors will evaluate next steps after all of Chasing Horse’s appeals have been exhausted, Damienne Darby, communications adviser to the B.C. Prosecution Service, said in an email on Tuesday.
In a statement issued after Chasing Horse’s conviction, the Tessutina National Police Service in Alberta said a warrant for his arrest remains outstanding and said it is in contact with the Alberta Crown Prosecutor’s Office regarding the warrant.
“Abusive Network”
Nevada prosecutors say Chai Ma used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Native women and girls.
Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci told the jury that for nearly 20 years, horse chasing groups “weaved a web of abuse” that trapped many women.
Jurors heard from three women who said Chase Horse sexually assaulted them. The jury returned guilty verdicts on a number of charges related to the three men.
Chasing Horse, who was born on South Dakota’s Rosebud Reservation, traveled across Indian Country to attend ceremonies and perform healing rituals after starring as “Smiling a Lot” in Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning “Dances with Wolves.”
Multiple victims described how they attended his rituals or went to Chase Horse to seek medical help.
The lead plaintiff was 14 in 2012 when Chai Ma allegedly told her that the ghost wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer. He then sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die, according to Pucci. The sexual assaults continued for years, Pucci said.