FALLEN ICON’S WEB OF TERROR: ‘DANCES WITH WOLVES’ STAR CONVICTED AS PREDATORY ‘MEDICINE MAN’
A Nevada jury delivered a damning verdict Friday, convicting former “Dances With Wolves” actor Nathan Chasing Horse on 13 of 21 charges, including multiple counts of sexual assault against a victim who was just 14 years old when the abuse began. The Las Vegas jury found Chasing Horse, 49, guilty of weaponizing his reputation as a Lakota medicine man, with prosecutors detailing a horrific pattern where he allegedly told his young victim that spirits demanded her virginity to save her cancer-stricken mother—and that her mother would die if she ever told. The shocking testimony, from three Indigenous women total, painted a picture of a man who spent nearly two decades exploiting cultural traditions and spiritual beliefs to prey on the vulnerable, trapping them in what Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci called “a web of abuse.”
Chasing Horse now faces a minimum of 25 years in prison, with sentencing set for March 11. His defense attorney, Craig Mueller, who argued the case lacked physical evidence and labeled the main accuser a “scorned woman,” said he was “confused and disappointed” and will seek a new trial. As the verdict was read, Chasing Horse stood silently, while victims and supporters wept outside the courtroom. The conviction marks a pivotal moment in a years-long effort to hold him accountable, first ignited by his 2023 arrest, which authorities said sent shockwaves through the community.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson declared the verdict sends an unequivocal message that “exploitation and abuse will not be tolerated, regardless of the defendant’s public persona or claims of spiritual authority.” The case, which has drawn intense scrutiny to the chronic under-prosecution of violence against Native women, is far from over for Chasing Horse, who still faces separate sex crime charges in other states and in Canada. British Columbia prosecutors confirmed they will pursue their case following his U.S. sentencing and any appeals, ensuring the fallen film icon’s legal reckoning is only beginning.
