Actor Nathan Chasing Horse Hit With New Sexual Abuse Charges

Actor Nathan Chasing Horse was hit with new sexual abuse charges this week, following a newly unsealed grand jury indictment.
On Thursday, a Nevada grand jury re-indicted Chasing Horse, accusing the former Dances with Wolves actor of decades-long sexual abuse against Indigenous women and girls, reigniting a broad criminal case against him.
The 21-count indictment, unsealed Thursday in Clark County District Court, broadens the case against the 48-year-old, adding charges of producing and possessing child sexual abuse materials to his previous felony counts of sexual assault, lewdness, and kidnapping.
The new indictment follows a Nevada Supreme Court ruling in September that dismissed Chasing Horse’s initial 18-count indictment but allowed for potential refiling of charges. Proceedings in the case had been stalled for over a year as Chasing Horse mounted legal challenges against the original charges.
The court ruled in favor of Chasing Horse, issuing a sharply critical order that accused prosecutors of misusing the grand jury process.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson promptly pledged to pursue a new indictment. As of Thursday, neither Wolfson nor Chasing Horse’s attorney, Kristy Holston, had responded to requests for comment by phone or email.
Chasing Horse, widely recognized for his role as Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film Dances with Wolves, was born on South Dakota’s Rosebud Reservation, home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven Lakota tribes.
Following his role in the Oscar-winning film, authorities say Chasing Horse established himself as a self-proclaimed Lakota medicine man, traveling across North America to conduct healing ceremonies.
Chasing Horse allegedly exploited his role to gain the trust of vulnerable Indigenous women and girls, form a cult, and take underage wives, according to authorities. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges. Chasing Horse’s attorney argued for dismissal of the charges, contending that the former actor maintained the encounters were consensual. However, authorities report that one of his accusers was under 16—the age of consent in Nevada—when the alleged abuse began.
Chasing Horse’s arrest last January sent shockwaves through Indigenous communities, prompting law enforcement in the U.S. and Canada to substantiate long-standing allegations against him. This led to additional charges, including on Montana’s Fort Peck Indian Reservation, where tribal leaders had banned Chasing Horse in 2015 following accusations of human trafficking.
Chasing Horse has remained in jail in Las Vegas following his most recent arrest.
In dismissing Chasing Horse’s initial indictment, the Nevada Supreme Court emphasized it was not passing judgment on his guilt or innocence, acknowledging the gravity of the allegations. However, the court criticized prosecutors for presenting a definition of “grooming” to the grand jury without expert testimony and for withholding inconsistent statements made by one of his accusers.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.