Vegas Casinos Accused of Enabling Sex Trafficking in Case Involving Actor Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse

In a civil lawsuit that follows a high-profile sexual assault case, two women have accused Las Vegas casinos of enabling sex trafficking.

According to local CBS outlet 8 News Now, Corena Leone-LaCroix and her mother, Melissa Leone, have filed a lawsuit against Boyd Gaming and Stations Casinos. They alleged that not only did properties owned by those companies allow sex trafficking on site, but they actively participated in the crimes. Staff, the suit says, knew full well about the sex trafficking. Some even acted as lookouts and informants.

“Years before plaintiffs were trafficked, defendants knew or should have known of the critical role that the hotel industry plays in enabling the sex trade industry and of the widespread national epidemic of hotel/motel sex trafficking,” the lawsuit says.

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Prominent Actor Chasing Horse Implicated in Case

Actor Nathan Lee Chasing His Horse, 50, aka Nathan Chasing Horse, is at the center of the high-profile case. A convicted sexual predator, Chasing Horse received a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole after 37 years.

Jurors found him guilty of 13 out of 21 counts he faced. He manipulated victims as young as 14, using his position as a respected medicine man in the Indigenous community to commit multiple sexual assaults.

Chasing Horse also had a decorated but intermittent career as an actor. Most prominently, his first credit came in Dances With Wolves, which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 1990. His most recent credit came in 2007’s TV movie Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee.

Police arrested him in 2023, accusing him of leading a polygamist cult in North Las Vegas.

At Chasing Horse’s trial, the deputy district attorney told jurors that he had abused women for almost 20 years.

The trial centered mainly on three victims, one of whom was Leone-LaCroix.

Victims Say Casinos Played a Role in Sex Trafficking

In the civil lawsuit, Leone-LaCroix and her mother name Cannery Casino & Hotel and Santa Fe Station Hotel & Casino as sites of sex trafficking between 2014 and 2022. Boyd Gaming owns the former, and Stations Casinos owns the latter.

The women said Chasing Horse rented multiple rooms, where he forced them to have sex with buyers. They said the “noticeable traffic” in and out of the rooms created obvious red flags about potential sex trafficking.

However, instead of intervening, staff did nothing to stop the crimes. Instead, they lavished comps on Chasing Horse. All the while, the victims said, casino employees were well aware of at least some of the abuses. They said employees saw and heard Chasing Horse physically and verbally abuse them.

Both accused properties are well off the Strip. Cannery is in North Las Vegas, about 25 minutes from the Strip. Santa Fe Station is located about 30 minutes northwest of the Strip, right off of U.S. Route 95.

A local prosecutor noted to 8 News Now that casinos don’t have a natural inclination to fight sex trafficking because they’re often incentivized to keep rooms occupied.

According to one study, Nevada is by far the worst state for human trafficking. From 2019-2023, it had nearly 59 victims per 100,000 people. That was about 25% more than Georgia and Mississippi, the next two states on the list.

Image credit: AJFU/Wikimedia Commons (license)

Mo Nuwwarah

Deputy Editor

Mo has been reporting on the poker industry since 2013, excepting a foray into the sports betting space from 2021-2025. He's a regular in live tournaments and cash games at buy-in levels around $400-$2,000.