A former Brazilian model and Instagram wellness influencer, Kat Torres, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for the human trafficking and slavery of a woman she used to live with, and has also been charged regarding another past roommate, while others have come forward with more allegations, the BBC reported.
When two young Brazilian women were reported missing in September 2022, their families and the FBI launched a search across the U.S. to find them, and all they knew was they had been living with Torres.
Desirrê Freitas and Letícia Maia reportedly moved into Torres’ mansion in Austin, Texas, after she persuaded both of them to stay with her, in addition to another unnamed woman she “recruited,” who is being called Sol. The BBC also discovered at least four other women were almost persuaded to join Torres in the house but had pulled out.
Desirrê alleges that Torres, who partied with Leonardo DiCaprio and other A-listers in the past, had begged her to move in, telling her she was suicidal and needed her support. Within weeks of living with Torres, Desirrê says she pressured her into working at a local strip club, saying if she did not comply she would have to repay all the money she had spent on her: flights, accommodation, furniture in her room, and even the “witchcraft” Torres had performed.
Torres is also accused of persuading Letícia, who was 14 when she started life-coaching sessions with her, to move to the U.S. for an au pair program and then drop out to live and work with her.
Desirrê and Sol say the women in the house were forbidden from speaking to each other, they needed Torres’ permission to leave their rooms, even to use the bathroom, and were required to immediately hand over all their earnings to her. They also reported that Torres eventually coerced them into prostitution, threatening them with her husbands’s gun and telling them they couldn’t come home if they didn’t make a certain amount of money.
A woman named Ana who also came forward in the BBC’s documentary, said she worked as Torres’ assistant before Desirrê, Leticia, and Sol moved in, leaving due to the reported abuse. However, she ended up being the one to report the alleged activity in the house when the others were reported missing, which led to Torres’ arrest.
According to the BBC, more than 20 women have reported being scammed or exploited by Torres.
