Chasing Horse faces new child pornography charges

Prosecutors have filed new charges against Nathan Chasing Horse, an alleged cult leader who was previously accused of sexual assault before the Nevada Supreme Court dismissed the case last month.

Court records show that a new criminal complaint filed Saturday accuses him of using a minor under the age of 14 to produce pornography and possessing pornography of a person under the age of 16.

The superior court dismissed an earlier indictment against 48-year-old Chasing Horse because of problems with how prosecutors presented the case before a grand jury. He was charged with sexual assault, indecent exposure, kidnapping and drug trafficking.

The dismissal did not stop officials from filing a new case against Chasing Horse, Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson said previously.

During a court hearing Monday, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Joseph Sciscento set bail at $200,000 for Chasing Horse, court records show.

The case has since been transferred to North Las Vegas Justice Court, where Chasing Horse made his first appearance following his arrest in late January 2023.

Federal prosecutors in Nevada have also moved to dismiss the charges of child sexual exploitation and possession of child pornography that Chasing Horse faced in federal court. A motion to dismiss that case was filed on September 27, the day after the Nevada Supreme Court dismissed the state-level complaint.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Brenda Weksler granted the request to dismiss the federal case on Oct. 1, court records show.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Chasing Horse, who is also known for his role of Smiles a Lot in the 1990 Kevin Costner film ‘Dances With Wolves’, was accused of committing crimes in the US and Canada between 2012 and 2023 while managing a cult called The Circle. He was arrested after police raided his North Las Vegas home, where he lived with several women he considered wives.

When police raided the home, they found a cellphone with pornographic videos of a child, multiple firearms and drugs, according to an arrest report.

Several women who told police that Chasing Horse had attacked them said he had filmed himself “having intercourse with them while they were conscious and unconscious,” according to his arrest report.

One woman told police that Chasing Horse groomed her and told her to have sex with him so he could cure her mother’s cancer, court records show.

When the Supreme Court dismissed the earlier charge, the justices ruled that prosecutors failed to provide the grand jury with expert testimony about “grooming” despite having a jury instruction describing the term.

The court said the definition of grooming was “completely unsupported by competent evidence.” The judges also ruled that prosecutors failed to present exculpatory evidence to the grand jury.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at [email protected] or 702-383-0240.