LAS VEGAS – Federal prosecutors in Nevada have quietly dismissed a long-dormant sex abuse case against Nathan Chasing Horse, though the former “Dances with Wolves" actor still faces criminal charges elsewhere.
The federal case was tossed Oct. 1, just as state prosecutors were finalizing the dismissal of their own indictment against Chasing Horse under an order from the Nevada Supreme Court.
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The back-to-back dismissals are a stunning development for a legal saga that began with Las Vegas police arresting Chasing Horse and raiding his home last January, leading to the state's 18-count indictment in Clark County District Court.
His arrest, which sent shockwaves throughout Indian Country, was quickly followed by more criminal charges in four other jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada. That includes the now-dismissed federal case accusing him of sexually exploiting minors and possessing child sexual abuse material, charges that stemmed from the same allegations that led to his arrest.
Chasing Horse still faces criminal charges in Canada, on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, and in Las Vegas.
Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 film “Dances with Wolves,” Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.
In the decades since starring in the Oscar-winning movie, authorities say he built a reputation as a self-proclaimed medicine man among tribes and traveled around North America to perform healing ceremonies.
He’s accused of using that position to gain access to vulnerable girls and women starting in the early 2000s, leading a cult and taking underage wives.
Federal prosecutors took no action in their case against Chasing Horse after filing the charges in February 2023, court records show. They moved to dismiss the case on Sept. 27 — a day after the Nevada high court ordered the dismissal of Chasing Horse's indictment in state court — but did not detail in court filings why they wanted to dismiss the case.
Both the state and federal cases were dismissed without prejudice, meaning prosecutors can refile the charges. Federal prosecutor Steven Rose didn't immediately respond to an email Monday asking if the U.S. government intends to do so. Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson has said his office will refile the charges in state court, which included sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping and child abuse.
State prosecutors on Friday filed a new case in Las Vegas against Chasing Horse that accuses him of filming himself having sex with one of his accusers when she was younger than 14. He is being held in the custody of Las Vegas police on $200,000 bail.
In at least one video, the girl was “fully passed out," prosecutor William Rowles said Monday in court.
Rowles said the footage, taken in 2010 or 2011, were found on cellphones in a locked safe inside the North Las Vegas home that Chasing Horse is said to have shared with five wives, including the girl in the videos.
His defense attorney, Kristy Holston, declined to comment on the new case or the dismissal of the federal charges. Rowles also said he had no comment.
The Nevada Supreme Court in late September sided with Chasing Horse, after his attorney successfully argued that a definition of grooming — presented to the grand jury without expert testimony — had tainted the state's case, and that prosecutors should have shared with the grand jury inconsistent statements made by one of the victims.
Chasing Horse has been jailed in Las Vegas since his arrest last January. But the case had been at a standstill for more than a year while he challenged it.