Tsuut’ina police believe there may be local victims tied to child sex crime and sex-trafficking allegations against former actor Nathan Lee Chasing Horse, who was arrested in Las Vegas on Tuesday.
Chasing Horse, 46, is known for playing Sioux tribe member Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film Dances With Wolves, but in recent years has been reported to lead a cult called The Circle; it’s through that cult that police identified six alleged victims, according to The Associated Press.
Chasing Horse, who was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, was arrested Tuesday outside his North Las Vegas home. The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department began investigating him after receiving a tip in October 2022.
Court documents show that he is to be charged with at least two counts of sex trafficking and one count each of sexual assault of a child younger than 16, child abuse or neglect, and sexual assault. U.S. authorities have not said when he will be formally charged.
Alleged incidents occurred over two decades
According to the warrant obtained by AP, the offences allegedly occurred in Montana, South Dakota and Nevada, but his alleged victims span Canada and the U.S., with incidents occurring over two decades.
“Nathan Chasing Horse used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions,” reads the warrant, according to AP. It also states some of his alleged victims were as young as 13 and he had multiple so-called “wives,” one of whom was 15.
The warrant also reportedly states he was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Montana in 2015 amid allegations of human trafficking.
Tsuut’ina police say it has worked closely with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, as well as the Calgary Police Service, leading up to Chasing Horse’s arrest and are looking to identify any local victims.
‘There may be other victims’
According to his IMDB profile, three of the five productions he’s appeared in were shot in southern Alberta. Chasing Horse was in a 2003 movie called DreamKeeper, shot partially in Standoff; a 2005 Drumheller-filmed series called Into the West; and Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a 2007 film shot in Calgary. He has not appeared in a film or television production since 2007.
“We believe there may be other victims that may want to come forward,” Tsuut’ina police said in a news release Wednesday, adding it is reviewing historical sexual-assault files and working with the Crown to ensure “all victims have a voice.”
“There is no statute of limitations on criminal sexual offences in Canada and we encourage anyone who has been a victim of a serious crime to report it, even if many years have passed since the incident.”
Chasing Horse is expected to appear in court in North Las Vegas on Thursday.
Police ask anyone who has been the victim of sexual assault or who has information on Chasing Horse and his alleged offences to contact Tsuut’ina police at 403-251-9660. Tipsters can also contact Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-8477.
— With files from The Canadian Press
Twitter: @michaelrdrguez
