arrested and indicted in 2023<\/a>. That initial arrest reverberated around Indian Country, with law enforcement in other states and Canada following up with more criminal charges. Those charges are still pending.<\/p>\nThe British Columbia Prosecution Service said Chasing Horse was charged with sexual assault in February 2023, though the date of the alleged offense took place in September 2018 near Keremeos, a village about four hours east of Vancouver. In November 2023, the case paused due to Chasing Horse\u2019s charges in the United States, but resumed the following year.<\/p>\n
After all of Chasing Horse\u2019s appeals have been exhausted, British Columbia prosecutors will assess next steps, Damienne Darby, communications counsel for the British Columbia Prosecution Service, said in an email.<\/p>\n
A warrant against Chasing Horse remains outstanding in Alberta, the Tsuut\u2019ina Nation Police Service in Alberta said in a statement following Chasing Horse\u2019s conviction in January. The Tsuut\u2019ina Nation Police Service said that it is in contact with the Alberta Crown Prosecutors Office regarding the warrant.<\/p>\n
January trial focused on his role as spiritual leader<\/p>\n
Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation. Following his appearance as the young Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner\u2019s Oscar-winning film \u201cDances With Wolves,\u201d Chasing Horse traveled across Indian Country to attend powwows and perform healing ceremonies.<\/p>\n
During his trial, Nevada prosecutors said Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls.<\/p>\n
Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci told the jury that for almost 20 years, Chasing Horse \u201cspun a web of abuse\u201d that ensnared many women.<\/p>\n
Jurors heard from three women who said Chasing Horse sexually assaulted them. The jury returned guilty verdicts on some charges. He was acquitted on others.<\/p>\n
Needing medical help<\/p>\n
Multiple victims described how they participated in his ceremonies or went to Chasing Horse for medical help.<\/p>\n
Chasing Horse allegedly told Leone-LaCroix when she was 14 that the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer. He then sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die, according to Pucci. The sexual assaults continued for years, Pucci said. <\/p>\n
Chasing Horse denied the allegations and his attorney questioned the main accuser\u2019s credibility, calling her a \u201cscorned woman.\u201d His attorney had 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. That motion was denied.<\/p>\n
Victims and their family members testified that they struggle with their faith as a result of Chasing Horse\u2019s actions. The mothers of the victims said Chasing Horse betrayed their trust and abused sacred traditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cEven to this day I struggle to regain my faith and spirituality,\u201d said Lynnette Adams, the mother of Siera Begaye, one of the other victims.<\/p>\n
The AP typically does not use the name of alleged sexual assault victims unless they come forward publicly or approved the use of their names, as Begaye has.<\/p>\n
Begaye said she still faces complications after suffering an ectopic pregnancy as a result of the assault and being forced to undergo surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am choosing to see this moment as a fresh start,\u201d Begaye said. \u201cI will rebuild my life, reclaim my voice and continue fighting for the future I deserve.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LAS VEGAS (AP) \u2014 A Nevada judge sentenced \u201cDances With Wolves\u201d actor Nathan Chasing Horse on Monday to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401183,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[276,206986,278,430,162008,156,3717,18034,116949,206985,63831,13891,206987,206984,13893,111,139,27822,69,62777,185329,76626,38083,5021],"class_list":{"0":"post-401182","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-bianca-pucci","10":"tag-british-columbia","11":"tag-celebrities","12":"tag-criminal-punishment","13":"tag-entertainment","14":"tag-general-news","15":"tag-indictments","16":"tag-indigenous-people","17":"tag-jessica-peterson","18":"tag-kevin-costner","19":"tag-las-vegas","20":"tag-lynnette-adams","21":"tag-nathan-chasing-horse","22":"tag-nevada","23":"tag-new-zealand","24":"tag-newzealand","25":"tag-nv-state-wire","26":"tag-nz","27":"tag-race-and-ethnicity","28":"tag-sd-state-wire","29":"tag-sexual-assault","30":"tag-south-dakota","31":"tag-u-s-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401182","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401182"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401182\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401183"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401182"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401182"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401182"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Nathan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1777361949_979_.jpeg\")
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