A North Las Vegas judge set bail at $300,000 on Tuesday for a former actor accused of human trafficking and sexually assaulting women and girls while operating a cult.
Nathan Chasing Horse, 46, has been accused by multiple women of misusing his “spiritual influence” to operate a cult known as The Circle, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report. He is also known for playing Smiles a Lot in the Kevin Costner film “Dances with Wolves.”
Prosecutors on Wednesday argued for Chasing Horse to be given a $2 million bail, stating that he was a flight risk due to the seriousness of the alleged crimes and the significant influence he has with some Native Americans. Chief Deputy District Attorney William Rowles said Chasing Horse has had up to 350 followers.
“What that shows is a vast network of individuals who are devoted to him, individuals who would go to great lengths to conceal him, go to great lengths to move him to certain places beyond the state of Nevada’s reach,” Rowles said.
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Chasing Horse’s public defender, Kristy Holston, said Chasing Horse’s following suggested that he had enough support from respected members of the community to indicate he would be likely to return to court. She said he does not have enough financial means to post a $2 million bail, and asked for a $50,000 bail.
North Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Craig Newman said a higher bail than what public defenders had requested was necessary due to Chasing Horse’s potential danger to the community.
“Based on what the charges are, I feel that there is a danger to the named victims potentially, as well as to others,” Newman said.
On Monday, Clark County prosecutors formally charged Chasing Horse with felony charges of sexual assault against a child under 16, sex assault, child abuse, possession of visual pornography of a child under 16, and four counts of sex trafficking of an adult. He has also been charged with unlawful acts pertaining to a bald or golden eagle, and hunting, trapping, possessing or selling part of a bird of prey, both misdemeanor counts, court records show.
A warrant has also been issued for Chasing Horse in Canada after authorities in Keremeos, a village in British Columbia, received a report last year of a “historical sexual assault,” according to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
Multiple women, some who first met Chasing Horse as young children, have told police they were raped by Chasing Horse starting when they were teenagers.
Chasing Horse was arrested Jan. 31 after police raided his North Las Vegas home, where he has lived with up to six women he viewed as wives, according to an arrest report. Police who raided the home found multiple firearms, drugs, a cellphone with pornographic videos of a child and a partially stuffed bald eagle.
He is also accused of instructing his wives on how to operate firearms, and told them to take suicide pills if he was ever arrested or killed.
Authorities in Canada and the FBI have previously investigated Chasing Horse in connection with sexual assault allegations, and he was banished from the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana after he was accused of human trafficking, spiritual abuse and intimidation of tribal members.
This is a developing story. Check back for more details.
Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.