NORTH LAS VEGAS — Las Vegas police on Tuesday arrested and raided the house of a former actor turned alleged cult chief accused of sexually assaulting younger indigenous women throughout a interval spanning 20 years, in keeping with police data obtained by The Related Press.
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, was taken into custody within the afternoon close to the North Las Vegas residence he shares along with his 5 wives. SWAT officers have been seen outdoors the two-story residence within the night as detectives searched the property.
Recognized for his position within the Oscar profitable Kevin Costner movie “Dances With Wolves,” Chasing Horse gained notoriety amongst tribes throughout the US and in Canada as a so-called medication man who carried out therapeutic ceremonies and religious gatherings and, police allege, used his place to abuse younger Native American women.
His arrest is the fruits of a monthslong investigation that started after police acquired a tip in October 2022. In line with a 50-page search warrant obtained by AP, Chasing Horse is believed to be the chief of a cult often called The Circle.
In line with the warrant, Las Vegas police have recognized not less than six alleged victims and uncovered sexual allegations towards Chasing Horse relationship to the early 2000s in a number of states, together with Montana, South Dakota and Nevada, the place he has lived for a few decade.
There was no lawyer listed in court docket data for Chasing Horse who might touch upon his behalf as of Tuesday night.
Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is residence to the Sicangu Sioux, one of many seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
In 2018, in keeping with the warrant, he was banished from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, amid allegations of human trafficking.
“Nathan Chasing Horse used religious traditions and their perception system as a software to sexually assault younger women on quite a few events,” it reads, including that his followers believed he might talk with increased beings and referred to him as “Drugs Man” or “Holy Particular person.”
Though the warrant consists of particulars of crimes reported elsewhere, the arrest stems from crimes allegedly dedicated in Nevada’s Clark County. They embody intercourse trafficking, sexual assault of a kid youthful than 16 and little one abuse.
Among the alleged victims have been as younger as 13, it stated. Police additionally stated one in all Chasing Horse’s wives was supplied to him as a “present” when she was 15, whereas one other grew to become a spouse after turning 16.
Chasing Horse is also accused of recording the sexual assaults and arranging intercourse with the victims for different males who allegedly paid him.
