How Kat Torres went from wellness guru dating Leonardo DiCaprio to human trafficking convict

By Charlie Sawyer

Published Jul 16, 2024 at 12:56 PM

Reading time: 3 minutes

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Up until a few days ago, I had no clue who Kat Torres was. But after hours of obsessive research, I now can’t seem to get the disgraced influencer out of my head. Once a world-renowned model and lifestyle guru who partied with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Torres currently spends her days in a Brazilian prison, facing an eight-year sentence for human trafficking and slavery of women. So, who exactly is Kat Torres? And who are the women who fell victim to her abuse?

From her glamorous time as Miss Caieiras in 2012 to her ultimate arrest in 2022, here’s everything you need to know about Kat Torres.

Kat Torres has lived many lives. Initially, the Brazilian native began her career as a successful model, securing pageant titles in her home country before subsequently moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting. However, pretty quickly, Torres discovered the immediate power and influence she could garner on social media.

According to the BBC’s lengthy investigation, Torres’ niche was found through her ability to blend wellness and lifestyle content with a broader theme and message of overcoming adversity and finding contentment. The influencer’s narrative was all hinged on her personal journey of escaping violence and abuse in Brazil and finding success in the US.

With her Instagram page gaining traction, Torres launched a website and subscription service that promised customers: “Love, money and self-esteem that you always dreamed of.” Claiming to have the ability to solve all of her clients’ problems, Torres charged an extra $150 for one-on-one video consultations.

Torres was able to maintain her reputation and build upon her credibility because of her previous status in the mainstream media. Not only was the Brazilian model on numerous magazine covers but she was also featured in multiple tabloid headlines, many of which seemingly confirmed her romance with DiCaprio.

One particular Daily Mail article reported that Torres had spoken to Brazilian newspaper Extra and told them that she and The Great Gatsby star were indeed romantically linked. Explaining how she originally met the actor in Cannes, Torres went on to state: “Leo is amazing, but I worry about what he will think about me talking to you. We have a pact that nothing can ever be said about our relationship. In Europe it is different. People see us together in many places so they do not need to ask us about anything.”

This public persona undoubtedly helped Torres to then attract and manipulate vulnerable women who were searching for help and a place to hopefully rebuild their lives. They had no clue of knowing that they were about to walk into a terrifying situation wherein they’d be held prisoners.

The first examples we have of Torres exhibiting abusive behaviours come from her former assistant Ana, who spoke with the BBC about her experience living and working with the influencer. Ana, also a Brazilian woman who had suffered trauma and hardships as a child, saw the opportunity to work as Torres’ live-in assistant for $2000 (£1542) a month as a chance to better herself.

However, it wasn’t long before Ana found herself in a dire situation, with Torres unable to do basic things without her—such as go to the toilet or have a shower. Ana would sneak away to the building’s gym in order to try and get a few hours sleep. Ana was also never paid. Having given up almost everything to be with Torres, Ana quickly realised she needed to get out: “Now, I see that she was using me as a slave… she had satisfaction in it. I felt like, ‘I’m stuck here, I don’t have a way out,’ I was probably one of her first victims of human trafficking.”

While Ana ultimately managed to escape, Torres quickly recruited two new women to take her place. Desirrê Freitas, a Brazilian woman living in Germany, and Brazilian Letícia Maia were Torres’ next victims, and it was their stories that eventually led to the abusive influencer’s arrest.

Hosted in Torres’ new house in Texas with her 21-year-old husband Zach, Freitas and Maia were lured in and quickly initiated into the influencer’s “witch clan.” While Freitas was convinced to come to the house after Torres told her she’d commit suicide without the woman’s help, Maia—who was only 14 when she began life-coaching sessions with Torres—was persuaded to come to the US to join an au pair programme, before swiftly dropping out so that she could cater to Torres’ needs 24/7.

Freitas was forced to become a stripper and hand over all of her earnings to Torres. If she did not comply, Torres threatened to ‘curse’ her. Having been subject to such extensive manipulation, Freitas was terrified for her life if she refused to follow Torres’ rules. Freitas, after being made aware of the guns in the house and Torres’ willingness to use them, later agreed to swap her stripper job for prostitution. 

Another Brazilian woman, who the BBC refer to as ‘Sol’, also experienced horrific abuse and manipulation: “It was very difficult to, you know, get out of the situation because she holds your money. It was terrifying. I thought something could happen to me because she had all my information, my passport, my driving licence.”

Finally, the families of the Brazilian women launched a social media campaign to try and locate Freitas and Maia. This subsequently caught the attention of law enforcement, and after an extensive investigation, the women were safely extracted from the house and Torres was arrested in November 2022.

Throughout the entire ordeal, Torres maintained her innocence, telling the BBC in an exclusive interview: “When I was seeing the people testifying, they were saying so many lies. So many lies that at one point, I couldn’t stop laughing.”

“You choose to believe whatever you choose to believe. I can tell you I’m Jesus. And you can see Jesus, or you can see the devil, that’s it. It’s your choice. It’s your mind,” Torres concluded.

Torres now faces an eight year prison sentence for human trafficking and slavery charges.