‘Dances with Wolves’ Star Busted in Las Vegas for Sex with Minors

Posted on: February 1, 2023, 12:31h. 

Last updated on: February 1, 2023, 04:32h.

Corey Levitan Read More
Expertise: Commercial Gaming, Entertainment, Expert Insight, Las Vegas.

Las Vegas police on Tuesday arrested former Dances With Wolves actor Nathan Chasing Horse for sexually assaulting indigenous girls as young as 13. The crimes were allegedly committed over the span of two decades, according to a 50-page search warrant obtained by the Associated Press.

Nathan Chasing Horse
Actor Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, was arrested on Jan. 31 in North Las Vegas on multiple charges of sex with minors as young as 13. (Image: ghgossip.com)

Chasing Horse – whose full name is Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse – was taken into custody by a SWAT team near the North Las Vegas home police said he shares with five wives.

The 46-year-old  – a member of the Sicangu Sioux tribe of the Lakota nation – gained fame as the young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in the Oscar-winning 1990 Kevin Costner film Dances with Wolves. According to police, he used that fame to build a reputation as a medicine man with tribes across the US. It was the healing ceremonies he conducted that allowed him access to the young Native American girls he abused.

Nathan Chasing Horse
Las Vegas police released this mug shot of former actor Nathan Chasing Horse, whom they arrested on Jan. 31 on one count of sexual assault of a child less than 16 years old, two counts of sexual assault, two counts of sex trafficking of an adult, and one count of child abuse/neglect. (Image: LVMPD)

“Nathan Chasing Horse used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions,” reads the warrant, which identifies Chasing Horse as the leader of a spiritual cult known as ‘The Circle.’

Six Victims IDed

According to police, at least six alleged sex abuse victims have been identified dating back to the early 2000s. The crimes occurred in multiple states, including South Dakota and Montana, where Chasing Horse was reportedly banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in connection with 2015 human trafficking allegations.

In Las Vegas, Chasing Horse’s home for about a decade, his crimes allegedly include sex trafficking, sexual assault of a child younger than 16, and child abuse. According to the warrant, some of his alleged victims were as young as 13. One of Chasing Horse’s wives was allegedly offered to him as a “gift” when she was 15, while another became a wife just after turning 16.

Chasing Horse also is accused of recording sexual assaults and pimping out his victims for other men, who allegedly paid him for acts of prostitution.

Chasing Horse’s arrest ends an investigation that began with a tip in October 2022. It comes as state attorneys general and lawmakers around the US are considering the creation of specialized units dedicated to cases involving Native American women.