Nathan Chasing Horse gets life sentence for sexual assaults on Indigenous girls

Nathan Chasing Horse was sentenced in Las Vegas after a jury convicted him on 13 of 21 counts, including 10 counts of sexual assault of a minor. He had been accused by three women, one of them 14 when the assaults began, and prosecutors said he used his reputation as a Lakota medicine man and spiritual leader to gain their trust.

The 49-year-old, who once played Smiles A Lot in Dances With Wolves, was described in court as someone who weaponized cultural standing and community trust against Indigenous women and girls. Reporting on the punishment differed, with one outlet describing the sentence as life in prison and another saying he received 37 years to life, with parole possible after a minimum of 25 years. He must also register as a sex offender.

Victims and family members told Judge Jessica Peterson that the harm did not end with the verdict. They said they continue to live with trauma and struggle with their faith after Chasing Horse exploited his role as a spiritual leader. Chasing Horse denied the charges before sentencing and told the judge, “This is a miscarriage of justice.”

The case has also exposed failures long before the prison sentence was imposed. Chasing Horse had been held in custody since January 2023, and sentencing was delayed from an earlier March 2026 date after defense attorney Craig Mueller said he had not received a presentence investigation report. The court first reset the hearing to March 18 and later moved it to April 27.

One prosecutor said North Las Vegas police initially failed one alleged victim when she first tried to report the assault in 2014, underscoring how vulnerable complainants can be ignored even after coming forward. The Las Vegas case centered on three victims, but its reach has extended far beyond Nevada.

Canadian and other state cases remain pending. British Columbia prosecutors charged Chasing Horse there in February 2023 over an alleged offense in September 2018 near Keremeos. Alberta police issued warrants for nine charges, including sexual exploitation, sexual assault and removing a child from Canada under 16. Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service said the investigation had stretched over several years, and the Tsuut’ina band council banned him from community events in 2015.

The sentence closes one chapter in a case that has followed Chasing Horse across borders, but the larger story is the same: spiritual authority, institutional hesitation and years of unanswered warnings helped shield abuse until the law finally caught up.