Sentencing for 'Dances with Wolves' actor Nathan Chasing Horse delayed one week

LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Nathan Chasing Horse and his legal team will return to court in one week for his sentencing.

This comes after his attorneys filed a motion to delay due to issues obtaining necessary documentation.

The state did not oppose the motion, agreeing that there have been issues.

The "Dances with Wolves" actor will be back in court on Wednesday, March 18 at 11 a.m.

Channel 13 was in the courtroom as "guilty" was read more than a dozen times in Chasing Horse's verdict.

It came after nearly nine hours of deliberations over two days in the trial nearly three years in the making.

Chasing Horse faces a minimum sentence of 25 years to life in prison.

After the verdict was read, his defense attorney told the court they plan to request a new trial.

WATCH the full reading of the verdict here:

Chasing Horse was arrested in early 2023 on charges of sex trafficking, sexual assault of a child, and child abuse.

Police described Chasing Horse as the leader of a cult known as "The Circle" whose followers believed he could commune with spirits. He built a reputation for himself among Native tribes across the U.S. and Canada as a "Medicine Man" who could perform healing ceremonies.

Police say he abused that position to physically and sexually assault Indigenous girls over the span of approximately two decades.

The crimes, police said, span multiple states, including South Dakota, Montana and Nevada, where he has lived for about a decade.

KTNV

During the trial, jurors heard from nearly 20 prosecution witnesses, including women Chasing Horse is accused of abusing.

"For almost 20 years, this man spun a web of abuse — and these victims were caught in it," a prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Craig Mueller pushed back, challenging the credibility of the witnesses and pointing jurors to what he called gaps in the evidence. He told jurors there were no eyewitnesses, no DNA, and no physical evidence, arguing the state did not prove its case.

"We don't need to spend hours explaining years of hurt feelings to get to the truth of this case. This case is actually very simple. All the evidence from that witness stand points to one verdict — not guilty," Mueller said.