Jury selection began Tuesday in Las Vegas for Nathan Chasing Horse, the former “Dances with Wolves” actor accused of sexually abusing Indigenous women and girls, according to the Associated Press.
Prosecutors say Chasing Horse used his reputation as a spiritual leader and healer to take advantage of victims over two decades. Chasing Horse, who was present in the courtroom Tuesday, has pleaded not guilty to 21 charges, including sexual assault, sexual assault with a minor, first degree kidnapping of a minor and the use of a minor in producing pornography.
Prosecutors allege the case sent shock waves across Indian Country when he was arrested and indicted in early 2023. After several delays, the case finally proceeded to trial after prosecutors added allegations that Chasing Horse filmed himself sexually abusing a girl younger than 14.
The AP report said the original indictment was dismissed in 2024 after the Nevada Supreme Court ruled prosecutors abused the grand jury process by providing a definition of grooming as evidence without any expert testimony. The high court’s dismissal order, according to the report, said the dismissal had nothing to do with Chasing Horse’s innocence or guilt and left open the possibility of charges being refiled. In October 2024, prosecutors refiled the charges with the new allegations, including that Chasing Horse recorded himself sexually abusing one of his accusers.
Prosecutors have said the recordings were made in 2010 or 2011 and were found on cellphones in a locked safe inside the North Las Vegas home that Chasing Horse is said to have shared with five wives, including the girl in the videos, the report said.
The case is being handled by Judge Jessica Peterson. During jury selection, Peterson asked potential jurors whether they could be fair and impartial having heard the charges, and several prospective jurors said they would be biased after past experiences of sexual assault, according to the AP report.
The trial could last four weeks, and prosecutors plan to call 18 witnesses, the report said. A week before the trial, Chasing Horse attempted to fire his private defense attorney, telling the court his lawyer hadn’t come to visit him. Peterson removed him from the courtroom when he tried to interrupt her and denied his request, the report said.
The report said Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation. Prosecutors also alleged that after starring in the Oscar-winning film, Chasing Horse proclaimed himself to be a Lakota medicine man while traveling around North America to perform healing ceremonies and led a cult called The Circle, whose followers believed he could speak with spirits.
In court, the report said a transcript from a grand jury hearing described victims going to him for medical help. It cited an account in which one victim was 14 when she approached him hoping he would heal her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer, and alleged that Chasing Horse treated her breathing issues and her mother’s spider bite before sexually abusing the victim and warning her mother would die if she told anyone.
Crystal Lee, CEO and founder of the organization United Natives, said the case is a reminder that violence also occurs within Native communities and is not just something committed by outsiders. In comments reported by AP, Lee said, “Chasing Horse’s trial requires hard conversations about Native perpetrators,” adding, “How do we hold them accountable?” and “How do we start these tough conversations?”