LAS VEGAS – Nathan Chasing Horse, who is accused of sexually abusing children and is said to be the leader of a cult, was caught with the help of several law enforcement agencies.

The teamwork shows that justice can be done when investigators work together toward the same goal. But these connections are not widespread across the country. In recent years, Indigenous communities have worked with groups like Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA to bring attention to this fact.

The Tsuut’ina Nation Police in Alberta, Canada, worked with the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department on the investigation that led to Chasing Horse’s arrest earlier this week.

Sgt. Nancy Farmer said, “We just started working with them in the last two weeks, but they had already been investigating for a few months.”

Chasing Horse is being charged with a number of felonies, such as having sex with a child and selling Indigenous women for sex. In an arrest report, police wrote that Chasing Horse was kicked out of the Fort Peck Tribe in Montana because he hurt their spirits and scared them.

Farmer says that one of Chasing Horse’s victims went to tribal police, which led to the link between Las Vegas and Alberta.

Farmer said, “At the end of the day, they went to a person they thought was a Medicine Man.” “Well, a Medicine Man should help people get better, not hurt them. And when our victims just want to feel more spiritually connected to their community and they end up getting beat up, that’s a cycle that we’re trying to break.”

In 2017, the brutal murder of a 22-year-old Native American woman who was pregnant and living in Fargo, North Dakota, started a national discussion about how local, federal, and tribal governments work together.

The Savanna’s Act became a federal law in 2020. It calls for better communication between federal, state, and local law enforcement, as well as tribal groups.

Aaron Rouse, who used to be in charge of the FBI field office in Las Vegas, says that this is a big reason why police and the community get along better now.

Rouse said, “We had very good relationships with tribal police and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Even though we didn’t have a lot of resources, we were all committed to working together to solve these crimes.”

Rouse says that most people in Nevada don’t notice the good relationships that these agencies build, but they do notice the results.

Rouse said, “The FBI in Nevada did its best to reach out to all local law enforcement agencies, as well as tribal and Bureau of Indian Affairs officials, to make sure we were all working together and on the same page.” “By putting all of these resources together, we can be a very powerful force. Each department may have problems with resources, but together we can solve them.”

Credits: KTNV

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