NORTH LAS VEGAS (AP) — Las Vegas police on Tuesday arrested and raided the house of a former “Dances With Wolves” actor turned alleged cult chief accused of sexually assaulting younger Indigenous women throughout a interval spanning twenty years, in line with police information obtained by The Associated Press.
Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, who goes by Nathan Chasing Horse, was taken into custody in the afternoon close to the North Las Vegas house he’s mentioned to share together with his 5 wives. SWAT officers had been seen exterior the two-story house in the night as detectives searched the property.
Known for his function because the younger Sioux tribe member Smiles a Lot in the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner movie, Chasing Horse gained a popularity amongst tribes throughout the United States and in Canada as a so-called drugs 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 end result of a monthslong investigation that started after police acquired a tip in October 2022. According to a 50-page search warrant obtained by AP, Chasing Horse is believed to be the chief of a cult referred to as The Circle.
And it comes as state attorneys basic and lawmakers across the U.S. are trying into creating specialised models to deal with circumstances involving Native girls.
In South Dakota, the lawyer basic’s workplace has put a brand new concentrate on crimes towards Native American folks, together with human trafficking and murders.
According to the doc, Las Vegas police have recognized a minimum of 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 couple of decade.
There was no lawyer listed in court docket information 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 house to the Sicangu Sioux, one of many seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
According to the warrant, he was banished in 2015 from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, amid allegations of human trafficking.
“Nathan Chasing Horse used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions,” it reads, including that his followers believed he might talk with increased beings and referred to him as “Medicine Man” or “Holy Person.”
Although the warrant contains particulars of crimes reported elsewhere, the arrest stems from crimes allegedly dedicated in Nevada’s Clark County. They embody sex trafficking, sexual assault of a kid youthful than 16 and youngster abuse.
Some of the alleged victims had been as younger as 13, in line with the warrant. One of Chasing Horse’s wives was allegedly provided to him as a “gift” when she was 15, whereas one other turned a spouse after turning 16.
Chasing Horse is also accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging sex with the victims for different males who allegedly paid him.
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