Kevin Costner Charged with Sex Crimes in British Columbia and Nevada
WARNING: This article contains details about abuse.
A former Dance with wolves The actor, who has been accused of sexually abusing Indigenous girls and women in multiple states for two decades, has been charged in Nevada with crimes prosecutors say began in the Las Vegas area in 2012.
Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, was formally charged Monday morning during a brief appearance in a north Las Vegas courtroom packed with his friends and relatives who had hoped to release him on bail. But a judge postponed hearing arguments about his custody status until Wednesday so Chasing Horse could find a new attorney.
Nevada law requires prosecutors to present convincing evidence that a defendant should remain in custody. Clark County Assistant District Attorney Jessica Walsh said last week she is awaiting testimony from Las Vegas police detectives, FBI special agents and victims.
Meanwhile, Chasing Horse is being held without bail in a downtown Las Vegas jail. He has been in custody near the north Las Vegas home he shares with his five wives since his January 31 arrest.
Las Vegas police are working Tuesday near the home of former actor Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, whose name is Nathan Chasing Horse. (John Locher/The Associated Press)
Chasing Horse is charged with eight felonies, including sex trafficking, sexually assaulting a child under the age of 16 and child molestation, according to a criminal complaint. Prosecutors on Monday filed an additional felony charge in connection with what detectives said videos stored on a phone showing sexual assaults on a minor.
Mounties in BC say Chasing Horse has also been charged with a historic sex crime in that province.
RCMP spokesman Kris Clark said he had been charged with a single count of sexual assault after the Keremeos unit, about 100 kilometers south of Kelowna, received a report.
Clark said an uncorroborated arrest warrant was out for Nathan Chasing Horse. An unconfirmed warrant means he will be held in custody after his arrest until he appears in court.
Victims experience fear
Some of the victims and their supporters sat across from Chasing Horse’s family on Monday, holding signs in the courtroom that read “No more stolen sisters and women are no prisoners.”
Rulon Pete, executive director of the Las Vegas Indian Center, said after the hearing that the victims were willing “to help ensure justice is done.”
“Unfortunately, they are very scared,” he told The Associated Press after speaking to the victims and prosecutors. “When that was pushed back, it was like giving more weight to the situation.”
Chasing Horse did not file a plea deal Monday after being formally charged. In Nevada, defendants do not file a plea until their criminal case is transferred to a state district court, either following a grand jury indictment or after a judge determines that prosecutors have sufficient evidence for the defendant to stand trial.
Chasing Horse played the role of a member of the Sioux tribe in Kevin Costner’s Oscar-winning 1990 film Smiles a Lot.
Since then, he has built a reputation as a “medicine man” among tribes in the United States and Canada. Chasing Horse, police say, abused that position, taking underage women for over two decades in multiple states, including South Dakota, Montana and Nevada, where he has lived for about a decade. He was also banned from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, in 2015 following similar allegations.
In a 50-page search warrant, detectives described Chasing Horse as the leader of a cult called The Circle, whose followers believed he could communicate with higher powers.
Pete of the Las Vegas Indian Center described the medicine man’s role in their culture as a highly respected leadership position. “They’re like priests, if you will.”
“They follow what they teach,” he said, adding that despite the intimidation and threats Pete said they’ve faced since Chasing Horse’s arrest, the victims have shown great courage by speaking out have reported.
6 victims identified
An arrest report for Chasing Horse shows at least six victims have been identified, including one who was 13 when she said she was abused and another who said she was offered to him as a “gift” when she was 15.
After SWAT officers took him into custody last week, detectives searched the family home and found guns, 41 pounds (18.5 kilograms) of marijuana and psilocybin mushrooms, according to the arrest report.
The criminal complaint filed Monday also charges Chasing Horse with two counts involving a dead bald eagle and parts of a dead hawk discovered during a search of his property.
Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, home of the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota Nation.
Support is available for anyone who has been sexually abused. Here you can access hotlines and local support services Government of Canada website or the Ending Violence Association of Canada database. If you are in imminent danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911.
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