Sexual assault trial delayed for actor, alleged cult leader

A Las Vegas judge delayed a trial on Monday for an alleged cult leader accused of sexually assaulting and grooming Native American women and girls.

Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, has pleaded not guilty to 19 felony charges, including sexual assault of a minor under 16, sexual assault, kidnapping, open and gross lewdness and drug trafficking.

District Judge Carli Kierny set his trial for May 1, which still falls within the 60-day requirement for a speedy trial that Chasing Horse requested when he was arraigned in March.

Prosecutors have accused Chasing Horse of committing crimes across the United States and Canada while operating a cult known as The Circle. He is also known for playing Smiles A Lot in the 1990 Kevin Costner film “Dances With Wolves.”

Chasing Horse was arrested Jan. 31 after police raided his home in North Las Vegas, where he lived with up to six women he viewed as wives, according to an arrest report. Two women told police in Clark County that they met him as girls at Native American ceremonies, and they were raped by him when they were teenagers, according to the report.

One woman told police she lived with him as his wife for multiple years, and that when she was a teenager, Chasing Horse told her to have sex with him so that he could heal her mother’s cancer. She testified to a grand jury that Chasing Horse first assaulted her when she was 14.

Chasing Horse is scheduled to appear in court again on Wednesday, when defense attorneys are expected to argue for the release of evidence and witness statements gathered during police investigations.

Defense attorneys are expected to argue for the indictment charging Chasing Horse to be dismissed on Wednesday. In a petition filed last month, public defenders wrote that some counts are charging him multiple times for the same alleged crime.

The petition also stated that the alleged victims have made statements that attorneys argue show they consented to having sex with Chasing Horse, and that one of the women wanted to be in a relationship with him.

In a response to the petition, prosecutors argued that Chasing Horse was “brainwashing” the women throughout their lives, and that the statements referenced by public defenders “does not explain away the charges.”

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.