The Las Vegas grand jury’s 18 sexual abuse-related felony charges against the Chasing Horse actor were upheld by a Nevada judge.
Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny issued an order late Friday afternoon saying that state prosecutors presented enough evidence for a reasonable grand juror to conclude that the sexual assaults were committed, but there was insufficient evidence connecting Nathan Chasing Horse to the psilocybin mushrooms found in his home.
Las Vegas Suspect Attempts To Drop The Indictment
Chasing Horse, 46, approached Kierny with the intention of having sexual relations with him in exchange for dropping the entire indictment. When Chasing Horse allegedly began abusing one of the women, she was younger than 16 in Nevada, the age of consent.
In February, charges of drug trafficking, kidnapping, lewdness, child abuse, and sexual assault on a minor were filed against Chasing Horse. He has been detained in county jail on a $300,000 bail since being taken into custody by SWAT personnel on January 31st close to the North Las Vegas home he shared with his five wives.
Additional criminal charges were filed in at least three jurisdictions, including Canada, the U.S. District Court in Nevada, and the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana, as a result of his arrest.
Chasing Horse, who played Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 film, was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven Lakota tribes.
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Court Proceedings, Chasing Horse’s Plea
In the decades following his appearance in the Oscar-winning film, police and prosecutors say Chasing Horse marketed himself to tribes across the country as a medicine man with healing powers and the ability to communicate with higher beings.
The alleged crimes, which allegedly span several American states, including Nevada, Montana, and South Dakota, date back to the early 2000s, according to his state court indictment.
Authorities claim that Chasing Horse told one of the victims when she was 14 years old that he was to have sex with her on the orders of the ancestors’ spirits.
Kollins declined to comment on the judge’s decision on Friday. On May 1, the trial in the state case is scheduled to begin. Chasing Horse has pled not guilty and demanded a trial within sixty days of his indictment.
Next week, he is scheduled to return to court for a hearing on another motion requesting separate trials. In the motion, Chasing Horse and his lawyers said his accusers’ claims don’t belong together.
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