Former Brazilian model and US-based wellness influencer Kat Torres has been sentenced to eight years in prison for human trafficking and slavery of women after an FBI investigation found that two women living with her had gone missing in 2022.
Women who claim they were also trafficked and enslaved by Torres have told of their traumatic experience of living with him. Speaking to the BBC, the women claimed they were drawn in by his rags to riches story as he went from living in a poor area of Brazil to partying with Hollywood stars.
Torres, who was once rumoured to be dating actor Leonardo DiCaprio, also claimed she could make predictions using her spiritual powers and was a common face on iconic Brazilian TV shows.
“She was on the covers of magazines. She was seen with famous people like Leonardo DiCaprio. Everything I saw seemed credible,” a woman named only as Anna told the BBC.
Spiritual powers
Torres’ former flatmate, who shared a house with her in New York, told the BBC that her Hollywood friends introduced her to a hallucinogenic drug called ayahuasca. It was through the use of the drug that she reinvented herself as a life coach and hypnotist.
Soon, Torres developed a wellness website and subscription service that promised clients “the love, money, and self-esteem you’ve always dreamed of.”
He also created self-help videos offering advice on relationships, health, business success, including hypnosis, meditation and exercise programs. He offered one-on-one video consultations for $150 that could “solve any of their problems.”
Enslaved followers
In 2019, Ana moved to New York and began working as an assistant while living with Torres. Escaping a violent childhood and abusive relationship, she moved to the US alone from Brazil and was studying nutrition at university in Boston.
The job required her to take care of Torres’ animals, cook for her, do her laundry, and clean, for which she was paid $2000 a month. But when she arrived, she was shocked to see the state of Torres’ home. The house was filthy and she was forced to sleep on a couch stained with cat urine. She was expected to be constantly available to Torres, with only being allowed to sleep for a few hours a day. She would hide in the building’s gym to sleep for a few hours. She was never paid.
After Ana escaped, Torres hired two more women – Desiree and Leticia – who moved in with her in a house in Texas. What began as a life coaching and healing retreat soon turned into a nightmare for the women.
Prostitution, witchcraft
Within weeks, Desiree was pressured to work at a local strip club while Torres performed “witchcraft” on her. The two women were forbidden from speaking to each other and had to ask Desiree’s permission to leave their room, even to use the bathroom.
Soon, Torres convinced Desiree to turn to prostitution. If she did not meet the earnings quota set by Torres, she was not allowed to return home that night. “I had to sleep on the street many times because I couldn’t reach him,” Desiree told the BBC.
In September, friends and family of the two women launched a social media campaign to find them. To avoid media attention, Torres and the women moved from Texas to Maine. From there, the two were forced to post videos on Instagram in which they denied being held hostage and asked people to stop looking for them.
More than 20 women have come forward with stories of being cheated or abused by Torres. They are still receiving psychiatric treatment to recover from their experiences.