Nathan Chasing Horse, who was sentenced this week to life in U.S. prison for sexually assaulting Indigenous women and girls, still stands accused of sexual assault in Keremeos in 2018
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A sexual assault case against a former actor who appeared in the 1990 Oscar-winning movie Dances With Wolves for a 2018 offence in Keremeos is still active, despite his life sentence this week for similar sexual assaults against Indigenous women and girls in the U.S.
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The B.C. Crown prosecutor says the future of the case in Penticton provincial court depends on the appeals process for the accused, Nathan Chasing His Horse.
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The former actor, who was convicted of 13 charges against three females in the U.S. in January, was sentenced on Monday in a Nevada court, according to news reports.
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“Once Mr. Chasing Horse has been sentenced and any appeals exhausted in that jurisdiction, we will assess next steps in relation to the Penticton prosecution,” spokeswoman Ann Taylor for the B.C. Prosecution Service said in an email.
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Chasing Horse, as he is called by B.C. Courts documents, but who also goes by the names Nathan Chasing Horse or Nathan Lee Chases His Horse, was found guilty of abusing his victims under the guise of offering them spiritual healing as an Indigenous faith healer.
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The 49-year-old, who played the a young Sioux character Smiles-A-Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 film, maintained in the U.S. court that he wasn’t guilty and called his conviction a “miscarriage of justice”.
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But the judge said before announcing the life sentence that evidence showed he “preyed on these women’s trusts and their spirituality” and manipulated them for his own gratification.
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Chasing Horse was first arrested and charged for the crimes in the U.S. in February 2023.
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Also in early February 2023, he was charged with sexual assault for an alleged offence in September 2018 near Keremeos, according to Taylor.
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But the charges were stayed in November 2023, “due to Mr. Chasing Horse’s outstanding legal proceedings in the United States,” she said.
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A stay of charges results in them being dropped after one year.
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But 11 months after they were stayed, on Oct. 31, 2024, the B.C. prosecutor “recommenced” his file, said Taylor.
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The Penticton court registry said there was a warrant issued for his arrest when he was first charged and on Oct. 31, 2024. It’s not known if either is active.
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There is also an outstanding warrant against Chasing Horse in Alberta, according to the Tsuut’ina Nation Police.
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After the film, Chasing Horse, of South Dakota and part of the Lakota Nation, travelled to powwows and performed healing ceremonies. U.S. prosecutors say he used his reputation to prey on Indigenous women and girls, according to an Associated Press report.
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A U.S. jury heard from three women who were sexually assaulted, and multiple victims said they participated in his ceremonies or went to him for medical help, it said. One was 14 when the abuse began, and she was told her mother, who had cancer, would die if she told anyone.
