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A Nevada judge on Monday sentenced actor Nathan Chasing Horse, best known for his role in Kevin Costner\u2019s Oscar-winning film \u201cDances With Wolves,\u201d to life in prison with possibility of parole after he was convicted last month of sexually assaulting multiple Indigenous women and girls. <\/p>\n
Chasing Horse, 49, continued to deny the charges and allegations against him during his sentencing. \u201cThis is a miscarriage of justice,\u201d he said Monday. <\/p>\n
A Nevada grand jury indicted<\/a> the actor \u2014 who also appeared in \u201cThe Broken Chain\u201d and \u201cInto the West\u201d \u2014 in February 2023, alleging he leveraged his position as a Lakota medicine man to prey on Indigenous women and girls whom he physically and sexually assaulted and took as underage wives. Nearly three years after the indictment and after an 11-day trial, a Nevada jury found him guilty of 13 of the 21 charges he faced \u2014 the bulk of which stemmed from his conduct with a girl who was 14 when Chasing Horse began assaulting her, according to the Associated Press.<\/a> He was also acquitted of some sexual assault charges when the main victim was older and lived with him and his other companions, per AP.<\/p>\n During the sentencing, Judge Jessica Peterson offered an optimistic message to those whom Chasing Horse abused, and those who supported them in court, noting \u201cyou can take back your power.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not going to refer to you as victims. I\u2019m not going to refer to you as survivors, because to do so puts you in a box and doesn\u2019t allow you to do what you want to do,\u201d Peterson said, \u201cwhich is to take back your life so I\u2019m going to refer to you as brave women and brave men.\u201d<\/p>\n When addressing Chasing Horse, Peterson took on a stern tone and admonished the actor and his attorney, Craig Mueller, for denying the charges and downplaying evidence of assault. <\/p>\n \u201cYou preyed on these women\u2019s trust and their spirituality and you manipulated them for your own personal gratification,\u201d she told the actor. \u201cThis court is going to make sure you never have the opportunity to do that again.\u201d <\/p>\n When a Nevada prosecutor suggested at the beginning of Monday\u2019s sentencing that Chasing Horse be sentenced to 37 years to life in prison, attorney Mueller expressed concern about the possibility of his client being released in his senior years. Mueller also called Chasing Horse\u2019s accusers \u2014 a number of whom appeared in court to share final statements \u2014 \u201cvery unhappy young women.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t understand this,\u201d Mueller said of the suggested sentence. <\/p>\n Chasing Horse will be eligible for parole after 37 years.<\/p>\n As the Nevada case comes to a close, Chasing Horse faces pending criminal charges of sexual assault in Canada<\/a>. <\/p>\n The Associated Press contributed to this report. <\/i><\/p>\n