LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Two women testified in front of the grand jury that Nathan Chasing Horse used his status as a “Medicine Man” in the Native American culture and developed bonds with them at a young age to then victimize them.
The 8 News Now Investigators obtained transcripts from grand jury proceedings which also reveal challenges in communicating with a third alleged victim.
A Clark County grand jury indicted the “Dances with Wolves” actor in October for 21 felony charges including 10 counts of sexual assault with a minor under 16 years of age, six counts of sexual assault, two counts of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child, and one count each of use of a minor under the age of 14 in producing pornography, open or gross lewdness, and first-degree kidnapping of a minor. One charge dates back to 2010, according to court documents.
Las Vegas Metro Police said they found video of Chasing Horse sexually assaulting an underage girl. That girl was later considered to be one of Chasing Horse’s ‘wives,’ and is now an adult. Attempts to talk to the woman have been unsuccessful as law enforcement has been met with hostility from her family, according to testimony.
“Myself and another agent attempted to serve her a subpoena at her mother’s house and we were greeted by her stepfather, her mother, and her brother multiple times and they even ripped the subpoena up and said that they would not be cooperative in the investigation,” FBI Special Agent Tieara Jones testified.
Police arrested Chasing Horse at his North Las Vegas home on Jan. 31, 2023. Five women considered to be his ‘wives,’ were taken to the police department, including the third alleged victim. Her mother showed up at Metro Police headquarters and began to yell in the lobby, according to police.
“She was very hostile not only to law enforcement but she was also hostile toward the wives and was very upset that they had agreed to come down to Metro headquarters to speak with detectives and she began yelling at them as well,” Detective Jackie Orton-McCrary testified.
Corena Leone-Lacroix, who previously shared her story with the 8 News Now Investigators, testified she first met Chasing Horse as a child and at the age of 14, turned to him to help cure her mother’s cancer. She said this was when Chasing Horse first sexually assaulted her.
“He said that it’s what the spirits had wanted, that that was the price of helping my mom,” she said.
Leone-Lacroix said Chasing Horse repeatedly sexually assaulted her when she was underage. She said she eventually moved in with Chasing Horse and became a ‘wife.’ She described abuse inside the home.
In 2019, Leone-Lacroix said she set up a Tinder profile which Chasing Horse later discovered. She testified he punished her.
“He had said that since I had wanted to be with other men so badly he could make that happen and that that could be a way I could repay the betrayal that I had done by serving other men and being a vessel by letting men have sex with me. He said that the rules were though that I was not allowed to see them so I would be wearing a blindfold. I was not allowed to say anything and I was not allowed to move or touch them in return,” she said. “I was just supposed to lay there and allow it to happen and that would be a way I could pay back my betrayal.”
She testified this happened multiple times, both at Las Vegas hotels and inside a home.
A second woman testified Chasing Horse sexually assaulted her and then gave her a pill. She said she later developed an ectopic pregnancy.
Leone-LaCroix also testified she was given a pill after the first alleged sexual assault and then Chasing Horse put her on birth control.
Chasing Horse’s followers were considered members of “The Circle.”
As Chasing Horse portrayed himself as a ‘Holy Man’ or ‘Medicine Man,’ he had gained the trust of Indigenous families and their children by using Native tradition, spiritual ceremony, and a historical belief system to bring together a sense of cultural identity that has otherwise been diluted by modern America,” according to a report.
Chasing Horse was previously charged with 18 counts in Clark County District Court in connection with alleged sexual abuse against two of the three women in the current case.
The Nevada Supreme Court dismissed the previous indictment in a Sept. 26 order and said prosecutors should not have defined “grooming” to the grand jury.
Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson immediately told the 8 News Now Investigators that prosecutors would seek another indictment against Chasing Horse within weeks and would “follow the dictates” of Nevada’s high court. The order allowed prosecutors to retry Chasing Horse.
In February 2022, a Clark County grand jury indicted Chasing Horse on a total of 19 counts. This included 10 counts of sexual assault against a minor under the age of 16, six counts of sexual assault, along with open and gross lewdness, first-degree kidnapping of a minor, and trafficking in a controlled substance. Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny later dropped one drug charge.
The 8 News Now Investigators have learned that similar allegations against Chasing Horse have previously been made but did not result in an arrest. The Las Vegas case is the first of several to move forward against Chasing Horse after women like Leone reported abuse.
Chasing Horse faces warrants in Montana and Canada. He has also previously been banned from several reservations.
Chasing Horse is accused of victimizing Indigenous underage girls and women for approximately two decades. The arrest report stated Chasing Horse is a “Rosebud Sioux Indian, Lakota Tribe.”
Chasing Horse is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 13. His bond is currently $500,000 and he remains in custody. Defense attorney Craig Mueller said he has been retained to represent Chasing Horse. Previously, he was represented by the Clark County Public Defender’s office.
8 News Now Investigator Vanessa Murphy can be reached at vmurphy@8newsnow.com.
To contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline, call 1-800-656-4673.
