The 46-year-old actor, best known for his performance as the teenage Sioux tribe member Smiles A Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1999 film Smiles A Lot, was detained near his house in North Las Vegas on suspicion of sexual offenses allegedly committed over 20 years.
A leading actor from the Academy Award-winning picture Dances With Wolves has been detained on suspicion of sexually assaulting young indigenous girls in the United States.
Police say Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, also known as Nathan Chasing Horse, committed the offences over 20 years.
According to a 50-page search warrant acquired by the Associated Press. He is also thought to be the leader of a cult called The Circle.
The 46-year-old actor is most remembered for his performance as the teenage Sioux tribe member Smiles A Lot in the 1999 Kevin Costner picture Smiles A Lot. He was arrested near the North Las Vegas home he reportedly shares with his five wives.
On Tuesday evening, a police SWAT team was spotted outside the residence while detectives conducted an interior search.
Following his participation in Dances With Wolves, Chasing Horse earned a reputation as a so-called medicine man who performed healing rites and spiritual gatherings among tribes across the United States and Canada.
The police allege that he abused young Native American girls while in his position.
According to the warrant, Las Vegas police have found six suspected victims and sexual accusations against Chasing Horse.
He has lived in Montana, South Dakota, and Nevada since the early 2000s, where he made the accusations.
The warrant lists foreign offences, yet the arrest is for Clark County, Nevada offences.
According to the warrant, they include sex trafficking, sexual assault of a minor younger than 16 years of age, and child abuse; some of the alleged victims were as young as 13.
One of Chasing Horse’s brides was reputedly given to him as a “present” when she was 15 years old. While another became his wife when she turned 16 years old.
Chasing Horse is also accused of recording sexual assaults and arranging encounters with victims for those who paid him.
Chasing Horse was expelled from the Fort Peck Reservation in Poplar, Montana, in 2015. Based on suspicions of human trafficking, according to the warrant.
As of Tuesday evening, Chasing Horse had no court-appointed attorney who could speak.
Chasing Horse was born in the South Dakota Rosebud Reservation, home of the Sicangu Sioux, one of seven Lakota tribes.