Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse
“Two-decade-long web of abuse”: “healer” star of the film “Dances With Wolves” found guilty of sexual assault against three indigenous women and girls, one of them aged 14.
A court in the US state of Nevada sentenced the “Dances With Wolves” actor on Monday. Nathan Chasing Horse to life in prison for sexually assaulting indigenous women and girls.
A jury had already found him guilty of 13 charges, mostly related to the sexual assault of three women. The plaintiffs and families told Judge Jessica Peterson they continue to suffer from the trauma caused by Chasing Horse, 49, and struggle with their faith after the actor abused his position as spiritual leader.
“There is no way to recover the youth, the lost childhood, my first time, my first kiss, the graduation I never had,” said Corena Leone-LaCroix, who I was 14 years old when Chasing Horse assaulted her.
The U.S. news agency typically does not name alleged sexual assault victims unless they come forward publicly, as Leone-LaCroix did.
Chasing Horse, dressed in the navy blue uniform of the Clark County Detention Center, stared straight ahead as the victims read statements.
Horse go ser eligible for parole after serving 37 years of pity. He continues to deny the accusations: “This is an injustice,” he said in court.
Peterson noted that she was struck by the continued denial of the allegations despite the evidence presented at trial.
“You took advantage of these women’s confidence and their spirituality, and manipulated them for your own personal satisfaction,” he considered.
The sentence ends a multi-year effort to prosecute the former actor, after he was first arrested and charged in 2023. The initial arrest sent ripples throughout Indian Country, with authorities in other states and Canada bringing more criminal charges. Charges that remain pending.
The British Columbia (Canada) Public Prosecutor’s Office reported that Chasing Horse was charged with sexual assault in February 2023, although the date of the alleged crime was in September 2018 near Keremeosa village about four hours east of Vancouver. In November 2023, the case was suspended due to the allegations against Chasing Horse in the US, but resumed the following year.
After exhausting all of the former actor’s resources, British Columbia prosecutors will evaluate the next steps, Damienne Darby, communications advisor for the British Columbia Public Prosecutor’s Office, told the AP via email.
One warrant against Chasing Horse remains pending in the Canadian province of Alberta, the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service said in a statement following Chasing Horse’s conviction in January. The Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service said it is in contact with the Alberta Public Prosecutor’s Office regarding the warrant.
spiritual leader
The January trial focused on the former actor’s role as a spiritual leader. Chasing Horse was born in Reserva Rosebudin South Dakota, home of the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota Nation. After appearing as Smiles a Lot, a young member of the Sioux tribe, in Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning film “Dances with Wolves”, Chasing Horse traveled throughout Indian territory to participate in powwows (cultural ceremonies of indigenous communities in North America) and perform healing ceremonies.
During the trial, Nevada prosecutors asserted that Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to take advantage of indigenous women and girls.
Assistant District Attorney Bianca Pucci told the jury that, for nearly 20 years, Chasing Horse “spun a web of abuse” that trapped many women.
Chasing Horse told Leone-LaCroix that the spirits wanted her to lose her virginity to save her mother, who was 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.
