‘Dances with Wolves’ actor is again indicted on sexual abuse charges in Nevada

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‘Dances with Wolves’ actor is again indicted on sexual abuse charges in Nevada

2024-11-01 06:46 Last Updated At：06:50

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A grand jury in Nevada has again indicted Nathan Chasing Horse on charges that he sexually abused Indigenous women and girls, reviving a sweeping criminal case against the former “Dances with Wolves” actor.

The 21-count indictment unsealed Thursday in Clark County District Court, which includes Las Vegas, expands on his previous charges of sexual assault, lewdness and kidnapping to include charges of producing and possessing child sexual abuse materials.

It comes after more than a year of delayed court proceedings that culminated last month in the Nevada Supreme Court ordering the dismissal of Chasing Horse's original 18-count indictment. The court sided with Chasing Horse, saying in its scathing order that prosecutors had abused the grand jury process. But the court left open the possibility for charges to be refiled.

Clark County District Attorney Steve Wolfson quickly vowed to seek another indictment. Neither Wolfson nor a spokesperson for his office immediately responded Thursday to phone or emailed requests for comment.

Best known for portraying the character Smiles A Lot in the 1990 movie “Dances with Wolves,” Chasing Horse was born on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, which is home to the Sicangu Sioux, one of the seven tribes of the Lakota nation.

After starring in the Oscar-winning film, according to prosecutors, Chasing Horse began propping himself up as a self-proclaimed Lakota medicine man while traveling around North America to perform healing ceremonies.

Prosecutors said his position in the community granted him access to vulnerable women and girls for decades until his arrest last January near Las Vegas. He has been jailed ever since.

Chasing Horse's arrest reverberated around Indian Country. Law enforcement in the U.S. and Canada quickly followed up with more criminal charges, saying that his arrest helped corroborate long-standing allegations against him, including on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana where tribal leaders had banished Chasing Horse in 2015 amid allegations of human trafficking.

Authorities in Alberta, Canada, have acknowledged that their case is largely symbolic. Chasing Horse — who faces decades in a Nevada prison if convicted — might not ever return to Canada.

“At the end of the day,” Sgt. Nancy Farmer of the Tsuut’ina Nation Police Service has said, “it is important for us to have these warrants in the system so our victims know they’ve been heard. It’s extremely important that we continue to support them that way.”

In Las Vegas, Chasing Horse had pleaded not guilty to the original charges. His new lawyer didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment, and his former public defender, Kristy Holston, said she had no comment on the new indictment.

The latest indictment also accuses Chasing Horse of filming himself having sex with one of his accusers when she was younger than 14. Prosecutors say the footage, taken in 2010 or 2011, was found on cellphones in a locked safe inside the North Las Vegas home that Chasing Horse is said to have shared with five wives, including the girl in the videos.

When the Nevada Supreme Court ordered the dismissal of Chasing Horse's initial indictment, the judges said they were not weighing in on his guilt or innocence, calling the allegations against him serious. But the court said that prosecutors improperly provided the grand jury with a definition of grooming without expert testimony, and faulted them for withholding from the grand jury inconsistent statements made by one of his accusers.

Chasing Horse's legal issues have been unfolding at the same time lawmakers and prosecutors around the U.S. are funneling more resources into cases involving Native women, including human trafficking and murders.

Jameis Winston's 3-TD start gives Browns some belief, momentum heading into matchup with Chargers

2024-11-01 06:36 Last Updated At：06:41

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jameis Winston doesn't plan the fiery, sometimes funny and always emotional pregame speeches he delivers to teammates. The animated quarterback prefers to let his Sunday sermons happen naturally.

“I’m not rehearsing things,” he said.

Winston likes to wing it. He seems to like playing that way, too.

One week after providing the Browns with a badly needed jolt by throwing three touchdown passes in his first start in more than two years, Winston will get the chance to do it again on Sunday against the Los Angeles Chargers (4-3) and the NFL's stingiest defense.

As debuts go, his performance in Cleveland's 29-24 upset of Baltimore was historic and also vintage Winston.

His 334 yards passing were the most by any of the 39 quarterbacks who have started for the Browns (2-6) since their 1999 expansion rebirth. But if not for the Ravens dropping several potential interceptions, Winston might not even be starting this week.

Winston's game — in the aftermath of Deshaun Watson's season-ending injury — earned him AFC offensive player of the week honors and something of an endorsement from Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, who said the plan is for the 30-year-old to start the rest of this season.

“But as you know,” Stefanski said, "in football we’re all day to day.”

That's particularly true in Cleveland.

The Browns started five different QBs last season, reinforcing the need to have a quality one behind Watson. Once the team passed on re-signing Joe Flacco, who led it to the playoffs a year ago, Winston became the plan at backup.

Winston's talent has never been questioned. The No. 1 overall draft pick in 2015 has a powerful arm and the pocket elusiveness to keep plays alive — or kill them.

In 2019 with Tampa Bay, Winston led the league in yards passing (5,109), yards per game (319) and interceptions (30). He takes chances, and sometimes they backfire.

Even in the afterglow of last week's win, Winston acknowledged he's a “great” quarterback while providing a caveat.

“I am certain when I am making great decisions, one play at a time, I am a great NFL quarterback,” he said.

Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh was impressed with Winston's ability to jump-start Cleveland's offense (the Browns scored 20 points for the first time this season) against a Baltimore team coached by his brother, John Harbaugh.

“Played a great game, top-flight quarterback,” said Jim Harbaugh, whose defense is allowing just 13 points per game. "Have always had a ton of respect for him. I don’t know if the offense changed significantly, but he operated extremely well moving the team and playing the game. I’ve always been a fan of his game.”

Winston has won over teammates in Cleveland since he arrived. He typically is the first player at the facility in the morning and one of the last to leave.

His impassioned pep talks, whether in the locker room or huddle, also have been well received.

They've come in many forms; Winston is as comfortable reciting Bible verses as rap lyrics. Last week, he left the field after quoting Eminem's “Lose Yourself” during a TV interview. The message was that "you only get one shot.”

“I encourage everyone to just have that mentality because that’s so true,” Winston said. "In all of our professions, opportunities only come around once, and we have to be grateful and receive them with authority and make the most of them.”

Cleveland has a special place in Harbaugh’s heart.

Not only did his first NFL touchdown pass come at old Municipal Stadium, it's where he spent summers as a kid while visiting his mom’s family.

“My first appreciation of yard work came from my Grandpa Joe," the Chargers coach said. "Kind of the work ethic that's been passed down through the generations all very much comes from Joe Cipiti.”

Before the start of the season, Harbaugh gave his players old-style work shirts embroidered with their names, like the ones worn by gas station attendants and mechanics. The shirts paid homage to his grandfather, a self-taught mechanic who ended up teaching at a trade school in Cleveland.

Week by week, Browns running back Nick Chubb is showing signs of being himself again following a second devastating injury to his left knee.

Chubb had only 52 yards on 16 carries last week, but his cuts were sharper and he appeared more decisive.

Browns Pro Bowl guard Joel Bitonio noticed the difference on one particular run.

“(Ravens nose tackle) Michael Pierce — the depth chart says 355 (pounds), but he’s like 390 or something — he almost jumped on his back one time and he kind of stayed up and gained another five yards up the edge,” Bitonio said. “So I’m like, ‘That looks like Nick Chubb that I know.’”

Chargers rookie right tackle Joe Alt is preparing for another test. He has passed all the big ones so far.

The No. 5 overall pick in this year's draft, Alt held his own against Las Vegas’ Maxx Crosby, Pittsburgh’s T.J. Watt and Kansas City’s Chris Jones, three of the league's top edge rushers.

This week, he gets the matchup Alt said he was looking forward to before the draft when he takes on Cleveland’s Myles Garrett.

Alt didn’t allow a quarterback pressure last week against New Orleans on any of his 38 pass blocking snaps, according to NFL Next Gen Stats.

Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert has been impressed with the former Notre Dame lineman.

“They’ve asked him to do so many different things — left side, right side, inside — and he can do everything. He can drop into pass coverage and he’s a complete player,” Herbert said.

AP Sports Writer Joe Reedy in Los Angeles contributed to this report.

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