NORTH LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police on Tuesday arrested and raided the house of a former “Dances With Wolves” actor turned alleged cult chief accused of sexually assaulting younger Indigenous women throughout a interval spanning twenty years, in keeping with police information obtained by The Related Press.
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, was taken into custody within the afternoon close to the North Las Vegas dwelling he’s stated to share together with his 5 wives. SWAT officers had been seen exterior the two-story dwelling within the night as detectives searched the property.
Recognized for his function because the younger Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot within the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner movie, Chasing Horse gained a popularity amongst tribes throughout america and in Canada as a so-called drugs man who carried out therapeutic ceremonies and religious gatherings and, police allege, used his place to abuse younger Native American women.
His arrest is the end result of a monthslong investigation that started after police acquired a tip in October 2022. In line with a 50-page search warrant obtained by AP, Chasing Horse is believed to be the chief of a cult generally known as The Circle.
And it comes as state attorneys normal and lawmakers across the U.S. are wanting into creating specialised models to deal with circumstances involving Native ladies.
In South Dakota, the legal professional normal’s workplace has put a brand new give attention to crimes towards Native American individuals, together with human trafficking and murders.
In line with the doc, Las Vegas police have recognized at the least six alleged victims and uncovered sexual allegations towards Chasing Horse relationship to the early 2000s in a number of states, together with Montana, South Dakota and Nevada, the place he has lived for a couple of decade.
There was no lawyer listed in court docket information for Chasing Horse who may touch upon his behalf as of Tuesday night.
Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is dwelling to the Sicangu Sioux, one of many seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
In line with the warrant, he was banished in 2015 from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, amid allegations of human trafficking.
“Nathan Chasing Horse used religious traditions and their perception system as a device to sexually assault younger women on quite a few events,” it reads, including that his followers believed he may talk with increased beings and referred to him as “Drugs Man” or “Holy Particular person.”
Though the warrant consists of particulars of crimes reported elsewhere, the arrest stems from crimes allegedly dedicated in Nevada’s Clark County. They embody intercourse trafficking, sexual assault of a kid youthful than 16 and baby abuse.
Among the alleged victims had been as younger as 13, in keeping with the warrant. Certainly one of Chasing Horse’s wives was allegedly provided to him as a “present” when she was 15, whereas one other grew to become a spouse after turning 16.
Chasing Horse is also accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging intercourse with the victims for different males who allegedly paid him.
