A Las Vegas judge delayed sentencing by one week for Nathan Chasing Horse, the former "Dances With Wolves" actor convicted of sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls over a period spanning nearly two decades. Judge Jessica Peterson agreed to move the hearing to March 18.
The sentencing was originally scheduled to take place on Wednesday, roughly a month after a Nevada jury convicted Chasing Horse on 13 of the 21 charges he faced. He was acquitted of some sexual assault charges but still faces a minimum of 25 years in prison.
According to Breitbart, his attorney, Craig Mueller, 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.
Nevada prosecutors said Chasing Horse used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls. Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci told the jury that for almost 20 years, Chasing Horse "spun a web of abuse."
The details are grim. The main accuser was 14 in 2012 when Chasing Horse allegedly told her the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to save her mother, then sexually assaulted her. The assaults continued for years. Jurors heard from three women during the trial.
Chasing Horse denied the allegations. His attorney dismissed one accuser as a "scorned woman."
Born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, Chasing Horse appeared as "Smiles a Lot" in Kevin Costner's Oscar-winning film "Dances With Wolves." He later traveled across Indian Country to attend powwows and perform healing ceremonies, building the spiritual authority he allegedly weaponized against vulnerable women and girls.
Nevada is not the only jurisdiction pursuing Chasing Horse. The British Columbia Prosecution Service said he was charged with sexual assault in February 2023 for an alleged offense that took place in September 2018 near Keremeos, a village about four hours east of Vancouver. That case was paused in November 2023 due to his charges in the United States and resumed the following year.
Damienne Darby, communications counsel for the British Columbia Prosecution Service, said in an email Tuesday:
"After all of Chasing Horse's appeals have been exhausted, British Columbia prosecutors will assess next steps."
Meanwhile, the Tsuut'ina Nation Police Service said a warrant remains outstanding against him in Alberta and that it is in contact with the Alberta Crown Prosecutors' Office regarding the warrant.
A one-week delay is procedurally minor. What matters is what follows. Chasing Horse faces a minimum of 25 years, and the Canadian charges are waiting in line behind whatever sentence Nevada imposes.
Cases like this expose a reality that gets too little attention: predators who operate within tight-knit communities, exploiting cultural trust and spiritual authority, can evade accountability for years precisely because the institutions meant to protect victims are slow, underfunded, or simply absent. Indigenous communities have known this for a long time. The conviction is overdue, but it is real.
Multiple victims described a man who manipulated sacred traditions to isolate and assault them. The jury believed them. Now the system needs to finish what the jury started.
March 18 will tell us whether it does.