LAS VEGAS (TCN) — A 49-year-old actor best known for his role in the 1990 film “Dances With Wolves” has been given a life sentence in prison for sexual assault.
Nathan Chasing Horse was convicted of 13 charges, most of them involving three women, The Associated Press reports. He was sentenced on April 27 and will be eligible for parole after 37 years behind bars. CBS reports Chasing Horse was acquitted on some of the charges.
Chasing Horse is Sicangu Lakota from South Dakota’s Rosebud Reservation, per the AP. After he rose to fame following his role in “Dances With Wolves,” he made appearances at powwows, healing ceremonies, and other cultural events throughout Indian Country. At trial, prosecutors alleged Chasing Horse used his fame and position as a Lakota medicine man to gain access to and abuse women and girls.
He was arrested in January 2023 following a lengthy investigation. He was charged with the sexual assault of girls and women across five states. He also reportedly had five wives, some underage, and was accused of trafficking victims to other men who would pay to have sex with them.
Three victims gave impact statements at trial, including Corena Leone-LaCroix, 14 at the time of the assault, per the AP. She said, “There is no way to get back the youth, the childhood loss, my first time, my first kiss, the graduation I never got to have. The life that little girl could have lived has been taken from me forever.”
According to Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci, Chasing Horse told Leone-LaCroix that in order to save her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer, the spirits wanted her to give him her virginity. Following the sexual assault, Chasing Horse reportedly told Leone-LaCroix that her mother would die if she told anyone.
Other victims who spoke said they have struggled with their faith since the assaults, and victim Siera Begaye said she had to undergo surgery for an ectopic pregnancy that was caused by an assault from Chasing Horse, according to the AP. Chasing Horse denied all the charges.
According to the AP, Chasing Horse also has charges pending in Canada relating to an alleged assault in 2018 that he was charged with in 2023.
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