Judge upholds sex abuse charges against ‘Dances With Wolves’ star Chasing Horse

A Nevada judge tossed a drug trafficking charge against “Dances With Wolves” star Nathan Chasing Horse, but upheld a Las Vegas grand jury’s sweeping indictment on 18 sexual abuse-related felony crimes.

Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny said in an order Friday that there was enough evidence against the alleged cult leader for “a reasonable grand juror to conclude that the sexual assaults occurred,” but dismissed testimony connecting the actor to psychedelic mushrooms investigators found searching his home.

Chasing Horse had asked the judge to throw out the entire indictment, arguing that all of his accusers — including a 16-year-old girl — consensually had sex with him. The age of consent in Nevada is 16.

His attorney, public defender Kristy Holston, declined to comment on the judge’s ruling.

The 46-year-old was arrested on Jan. 31 near the home he shared with his five wives on charges of sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping, child abuse, lewdness and drug trafficking following a months-long investigation spurred by a tip police received in October 2022. He has been held on $300,000 bail at a county jail since his arrest.

Chasing Horse — a member of the Sicangu Sioux tribe of the Lakota nation — attracted followers across tribes in the US and Canada who believed he was a “Medicine Man” and “Holy Person” who could communicate with higher beings and perform healing ceremonies, officials said.

Since the early 2000s, he has used his influence to sexually and physically abuse young girls and women across multiple states and Canada, investigators said.

Authorities allege he “used spiritual traditions and their belief system as a tool to sexually assault young girls on numerous occasions.”

Followers of his cult, known as “The Circle,”  allegedly offered their young daughters to Chasing Horse to take as wives, according to the arrest report, which said that one girl was allegedly offered as a “gift” to him when she was 15 years old and another married him when she turned 16.

The actor — known for his portrayal of Smiles a Lot in Kevin Costner’s 1990 film “Dances with Wolves” — wrote detailed journal entries about his progress to groom young girls to become his future wives, according to Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney William Rowels.

Authorities have accused the former child actor of training his wives to use guns and “suicide pills” in case police ever tried to “break their family apart.”

Following his arrest, authorities found firearms, psilocybin mushrooms, 41 pounds of marijuana and two cellphones containing videos and photos of underage girls being sexually assaulted in his home, according to an arrest report.

Chasing Horse’s trial is scheduled to begin on May 1. He has pleaded not guilty.

He is due back in court next week where he will ask the judge to grant him separate trials.

With Post wires