'The Epstein of Indian Country': 'Dances with Wolves' actor learns fate for sexually assaulting women, girls for years

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"Dances with Wolves" actor Nathan Chasing Horse — once hailed as a spiritual healer — learned his fate after he was found guilty of sexually abusing girls and women for years.

Nevada 8th Judicial District Court Judge Jessica Peterson on Monday sentenced Chasing Horse to life in prison, the Associated Press reported, adding that he'll be eligible for parole after 37 years.

'He took away my sense of safety, even within my own mind.'

Chasing Horse's defense attorney argued for the statutory minimum of 25 years to life, according to USA Today.

Craig A. Mueller, Chasing Horse's lawyer, told TMZ he plans to appeal.

The 49-year-old actor maintained his innocence during the sentencing hearing: "I did not do these things. This is a miscarriage of justice."

But Judge Peterson told Chasing Horse, "You preyed on these women's trusts and their spirituality, and you manipulated them for your own personal gratification," the AP reported.

As Blaze News previously reported, a Nevada grand jury indicted Chasing Horse in February 2023.

The actor — best known for playing the "Smiles a Lot" character in the Oscar-winning Kevin Costner film "Dances with Wolves" — pleaded not guilty to all of the 21 charges against him.

However, a jury in January 2026 convicted him of 13 charges related to sexual assaults.

KTNV-TV reported that Chasing Horse was found guilty of 10 counts of sexual assault of a minor under 16, one count of open/gross lewdness, one count of sexual assault, and one count of possession of visual presentation depicting sexual conduct of a child.

Deputy District Attorney Bianca Pucci told the jury that Chasing Horse "spun a web of abuse" for nearly 20 years, according to PBS.

Pucci told the courtroom that Chasing Horse previously manipulated a 14-year-old girl named Corena Leone-LaCroix by weaponizing his status as a purported Lakota medicine man with spiritual influence.

Pucci alleged that Chasing Horse told the girl the spirits wanted her to give up her virginity to him in order to save her mother who had been diagnosed with cancer.

Pucci said Chasing Horse sexually assaulted her and told her that if she told anyone, her mother would die, according to PBS.

The Las Vegas Sun reported that Leone-LaCroix recalled Chasing Horse telling her, "A life for a life."

"That is the promise he made me make all those years ago when I didn't understand the extent of what he was asking me. I think it's only fitting that you ask the same of him here today," Leone-LaCroix told the judge.

"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," Leone-LaCroix said, according to PBS. "The life that little girl could have lived has been taken from me forever."

The survivor's mother, Melissa Leone, called Chasing Horse "the Epstein of Indian Country."

The mom told Judge Peterson, "The crimes he has been convicted of, like Epstein, are not even the tip of the iceberg."

Siera Begaye, another victim of Chasing Horse, told the jury she suffered from trauma caused by his "psychological control," according to USA Today.

"He took away my sense of safety, even within my own mind. I believe I didn't have privacy in my own thoughts," Begaye stated. "Living with that kind of psychological control has had lasting effects on my ability to trust others and to fully express myself."

Begaye added, "The trauma delayed important parts of my life."

Chief Deputy District Attorney William Rowles and Pucci told KSNV-TV:

We think it was very important to ensure that each victim was represented separate and distinct in the sentence. We are very happy the judge agreed with the assessment as each victim survived their own trauma. The defendant should be held accountable for each victim separately. We want to thank Judge Peterson for her professionalism throughout the trial, particularly in the way she conducted herself in balancing the rights of a defendant and the privacy rights of sexual assault survivors.

The Press Democrat reported that Chasing Horse also has been charged in Canada, and prosecutors in British Columbia said once he has exhausted all of his appeals in the United States, they will move forward with assessing next steps for a 2018 sexual assault charge in Keremeos — a village about four hours east of Vancouver.

Chasing Horse has six acting credits to his name, and his last acting appearance was in the 2007 HBO film "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee," which won six Emmys.

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