LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – In its Sept. 26 order dismissing the Las Vegas criminal indictment against an accused sexual predator, the Nevada Supreme Court stated prosecutors improperly provided the definition of “grooming” to the grand jury.
Nathan Chasing Horse, 48, is accused of victimizing indigenous underage girls and women for approximately two decades. Alleged survivors have told the 8 News Now Investigators the “Dances with Wolves” actor developed a bond with them before manipulating and victimizing them.
Prosecutors to refile charges against Nathan Chasing Horse after Nevada Supreme Court dismissal
Grooming is the criminal activity of becoming friends with a child in order to try to persuade the child to have a sexual relationship, according to the Cambridge Dictionary. Chasing Horse was charged with 18 counts in Clark County District Court in connection with alleged sexual abuse against two women, one of them when she was underage.
In February of 2022, a Clark County grand jury indicted Chasing Horse on a total of 19 counts. This included 10 counts of sexual assault against a minor under the age of 16, six counts of sexual assault, along with open and gross lewdness, first-degree kidnapping of a minor, and trafficking in a controlled substance. Clark County District Court Judge Carli Kierny later dropped one drug charge.
Prosecutors presented the grand jury with a definition of grooming.
Nevada high court orders dismissal of Chasing Horse sex abuse case
“We conclude that it is error for the State to give the grand jury an instruction that is unsupported by the evidence and does not address a necessary element of an offense,” the Nevada Supreme Court order stated…