LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Jurors in the Nathan Chasing Horse trial heard emotional testimony Wednesday from two women who say they were abused as children by a man they once trusted as a spiritual leader.
Prosecutors called the women alleged victims, each describing years of fear, control, and abuse they say kept them from coming forward.
WATCH: Alyssa Bethencourt reports the latest on Nathan Chasing Horse, accused of sexually abusing women and children
The first witness, identified only as S. Doe to protect her privacy, testified that the alleged abuse began when she was a child. Prosecutors presented photos and video in court they say show Chasing Horse sexually assaulting her when she was just 12 or 13 years old.
"I was afraid," she said.
She testified that Chasing Horse threatened her family would be hurt and used his spiritual authority to control her, telling her the abuse was a sacred secret.
Defense attorneys questioned S. Doe during cross-examination, focusing on her continued contact with Chasing Horse after the alleged abuse and how she eventually became his wife.
Later in the day, prosecutors called a second alleged victim, Corena Leone-Lacroix, to testify.
Leone-Lacroix told jurors she met Chasing Horse at a young age through Indigenous ceremonies and came to view him as a trusted spiritual leader and family figure. She testified that she believed he had the power to heal people and that she never questioned his authority.
Leone-Lacroix said that when she was 14 years old, her mother was battling cancer and she was sent to Las Vegas during her mother's treatment. She testified that she believed participating in a spiritual ceremony would help heal her mother and that she felt she could not disobey Chasing Horse.
Leone-Lacroix told prosecutors she was assaulted during that ceremony and that the abuse continued for years.
The court adjourned shortly before 5 p.m. on Wednesday. The trial is expected to continue on Thursday with additional witnesses scheduled to testify.
Nathan Chasing Horse is facing 21 felony charges related to the alleged sexual abuse of Indigenous women and girls, including sexual assault and sexual assault of a minor, kidnapping of a minor, and producing and possessing child sexual abuse material. He has pleaded not guilty.
