Nathan Chasing Horse, the actor who appeared in the Oscar-winning film “Dances With Wolves,” was sentenced to life in prison on Monday in Nevada for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls, according to testimony and the jury’s verdicts in the case.
At the sentencing hearing before Judge Jessica Peterson, victims and their families described the ongoing impact of Chasing Horse’s conduct. The judge sentenced him after a jury previously found him guilty on 13 counts, most of them related to sexual assault involving three women.
Chasing Horse, 49, wore a navy blue Clark County Detention Center uniform and remained quiet as accusers read statements to the court. He later told the judge, “This is a miscarriage of justice,” as he was escorted out of the courtroom.
In one statement read aloud by Corena Leone-LaCroix, who was 14 when Chasing Horse assaulted her, she described the life she said was taken from her. “There is no way to get back the youth, the childhood loss, my first time, my first kiss, the graduation I never got to have,” Leone-LaCroix said. The Associated Press said it typically does not use the names of alleged sexual assault victims unless they come forward publicly, as Leone-LaCroix has.
Peterson said at Monday’s hearing that she was struck by Chasing Horse’s continued denial of the charges despite evidence presented during trial. She said he “preyed on these women’s trusts and their spirituality, and you manipulated them for your own personal gratification,” before announcing the sentence, and more than a dozen people clapped when the hearing adjourned.
During the trial, Nevada prosecutors said Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls, and Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci told jurors that for almost 20 years Chasing Horse “spun a web of abuse.” Jurors heard from three women who said he sexually assaulted them; the jury returned guilty verdicts on some charges and acquitted him on others.
Multiple victims testified that they sought medical help or participated in Chasing Horse’s ceremonies. Prosecutors said Chasing Horse allegedly told Leone-LaCroix that the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, who had been diagnosed with cancer, and that he later sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die. The prosecution said the assaults continued for years.
Chasing Horse denied the allegations, and his attorney challenged the main accuser’s credibility, calling her a “scorned woman.” His attorney also filed a motion for a new trial, arguing that a witness was not qualified to talk about grooming and that the statute of limitations had expired; the motion was denied, the AP reported. Peterson’s sentencing remarks reflected that, despite the prosecution’s evidence and the jury’s convictions, Chasing Horse continued to deny the charges.
Judge Peterson’s sentence also came as other legal matters involving Chasing Horse continue outside Nevada. The sentencing concluded a yearslong effort to prosecute him after his initial arrest and indictment in 2023. The AP said that arrest reverberated across Indian Country and that law enforcement in other states and in Canada followed up with additional criminal charges, which remain pending.
The British Columbia Prosecution Service said Chasing Horse was charged with sexual assault in February 2023, while the alleged offense date took place in September 2018 near Keremeos, a village about four hours east of Vancouver. The case paused in November 2023 due to Chasing Horse’s U.S. charges, then resumed the following year, the AP reported. After all of Chasing Horse’s appeals are exhausted, British Columbia prosecutors will assess next steps, Damienne Darby, communications counsel for the British Columbia Prosecution Service, said in an email.
In addition, a warrant against Chasing Horse remained outstanding in Alberta, the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service in Alberta said after his January conviction. The agency said it was in contact with the Alberta Crown Prosecutors Office regarding the warrant, according to the AP.
For some accusers, the sentencing did not end the consequences they described. Lynnette Adams, the mother of Siera Begaye, said she still struggles to regain her faith and spirituality, and Begaye said she was choosing to treat the moment as a fresh start and rebuild her life, reclaim her voice, and continue fighting for what she said she deserved for the future.