Noted Hollywood actor Nathan Chasing Horse receives lifetime jail term for sex abuse conviction

A Nevada judge has handed down a life sentence with the possibility of parole to American actor Nathan Chasing Horse, who gained fame for his role in the Oscar-winning film "Dances With Wolves" directed by Kevin Costner. This sentence comes after Chasing Horse was found guilty of sexually assaulting multiple indigenous women and girls last month.

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Chasing Horse, 49, was convicted of 13 out of 21 charges brought against him in January, following an 11-day trial that examined the evidence against him.

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In 2023, he was taken into custody by a SWAT team and subsequently booked into the Clark County jail on charges including child abuse or neglect, sex assault, sex assault against a child, and sex trafficking of an adult.

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Among indigenous tribes across the United States and Canada, Chasing Horse was revered as a medicine man, but victims and their families have come forward to say that he exploited this position of spiritual leadership to abuse visitors.

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Corena Leone-LaCroix, who was just 14 years old when she suffered abuse at the hands of Chasing Horse, expressed the profound and lasting impact of his actions, stating: "There is no way to get back the youth, the childhood loss, my first time, my first kiss, the graduation I never got to have.

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The life that little girl could have lived has been taken from me forever", she said, highlighting the irreparable harm caused by Chasing Horse's actions.

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Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci presented the case to the jury, outlining how Chasing Horse had "spun a web of abuse" that ensnared many women over nearly 20 years, and specifically noted that he had manipulated Leone-LaCroix into giving up her virginity under the pretense that spirits wanted her to do so in order to save her mother, who was battling cancer.

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Victims and their family members testified that Chasing Horse's actions had led them to struggle with their faith, while the mothers of the victims expressed feelings of betrayal and described how he had abused sacred traditions.

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Before the sentence was issued, the jury heard from three women who shared their own experiences of being sexually assaulted by Chasing Horse, further emphasizing the severity of his crimes.

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Chasing Horse will be eligible for parole after serving 37 years of his life sentence.