Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, of North Las Vegas, is in the Clark County Jail and faces charges of sex trafficking, sexual assault against a child younger than 16, and child abuse.
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The Las Vegas police department arrested Chasing Horse Tuesday following a monthslong investigation into alleged abuse that investigators said spanned over two decades. Chasing Horse has been in custody since his arrest and is accused of sexually abusing Indigenous girls and leading a cult.
Known as the Sioux tribe member “Smiles a Lot” in the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner film Dances with wolves, Chasing Horse gained a reputation among Native American tribes as a so-called medicine man who performed healing ceremonies.
According to an arrest warrant, Chasing Horse is alleged to be the leader of a cult known as “The Circle,” whose followers believed he could communicate with higher powers.
Investigators said he abused his position, physically and sexually assaulted Indigenous girls and women, took underage wives, and led the cult.
When #NathanChasingHorse walked into the courtroom his brother seen here in the front row started using a rattle that was hanging around his neck. @8NewsNow #8NN pic.twitter.com/XOPuZC4qvL
— Victoria Saha (@VictoriaSaha) February 2, 2023
Due to multiple requests:
On Jan 31, 2023, around 3:53 p.m., LVMPD detectives arrested Nathan Chasing Horse, 46.
Chasing Horse was booked into the Clark County Detention Center for the following charges: pic.twitter.com/WOc8zwphdp
— LVMPD (@LVMPD) February 1, 2023
A copy of the 50-page search warrant obtained Tuesday by The Associate According to an arrest warrant, Chasing Horse is alleged to be the leader of a cult known as “The Circle,” whose followers believed he could communicate with higher powers failed, the wives were to take “suicide pills.”
SWAT officers raided Chasing Horse’s North Las Vegas home Tuesday following an investigation dating back to October 2022. The search warrant at his home found firearms, 41 pounds (18.5 kilograms) of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, and a memory card with multiple videos of sexual assaults, according to an arrest report released Wednesday.
Las Vegas police said in the search warrant that investigators had identified at least six sexual assault victims, including one who was 13 when she said she was abused.
Investigators also traced sexual allegations against Chasing Horse to the early 2000s in Canada and in multiple states, including South Dakota, Montana, and Nevada, where he has lived for about a decade.
One of Chasing Horse’s wives was offered to him as a “gift” when she was 15, according to police, while another became a wife after turning 16. He also is accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging sex between victims and other men who paid him.
His arrest comes nearly a decade after he was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, amid allegations of human trafficking.
In July 2015, the Fort Peck Journal reported that “tribal members told of previous experiences with Chasing Horse, including incidents of alleged sexual abuse, human trafficking, threats to tribal members, intimidation, guns being used to keep tribal members out of ceremonies, and disrespecting the land,” at a hearing of the Tribal Council Chambers.
Fort Peck tribal leaders voted 7-0 to ban Chasing Horse from stepping foot again on the reservation, citing the alleged trafficking and accusations of drug dealing, spiritual abuse, and intimidation of tribal members, Indian Country Today reported.
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He appeared briefly in court in North Las Vegas on Thursday but did not speak before Justice of the Peace Belinda Harris scheduled a bail hearing for Monday. Chasing Horse has not been formally charged yet.
On Monday, Harris is expected to address Chasing Horse’s custody status and could set bail after she hears from prosecutors, investigators, victims, and the defendant’s relatives.
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