Instagram influencer turns followers into ’slaves’: Spiritual ’guru’ scams women who now undergo psychiatric therapy

Wellness influencer Kat Torres was sentenced to eight years in prison over trafficking and slavery charges this month. The development came after an FBI investigation found that two women living with the former model had gone missing in 2022. Followers who later became the target of Torres' coercion have also accused her of “sexually exploitation, enslavement and imprisonment”.

“She was on the cover of magazines. She was seen with famous people such as Leonardo DiCaprio. Everything I saw seemed credible,” former client Ana told BBC.

Matters however changed after Torres asked her to move to New York in 2019 and work as a live-in assistant. The reality of rooming with the influencer was a shocking ordeal with Torres seemingly unable to even the most basic task (like taking a shower) on her own. Ana recalled being constantly available — only allowed to sleep for a few hours at a time on a sofa covered in cat urine. She was also never paid the agreed upon salary of $2000.

"It was shocking because the house was really messy, really dirty, didn’t smell good. 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,” she told the publication.

Torres eventually came under scrutiny after Desirrê Freitas and Letícia Maia moved to live with Torres. The two women — whose disappearance would go on to spark the FBI-led search — were introduced to her social media followers as her ‘witch clan’ alongside an unnamed third individual.

Within weeks Desirrê (who later penned a memoir) was pressurised into working for a local strip club. Torres reportedly asked her to repay all the money spent on her flights and accommodation, and threatened to curse Desirrê for not following orders. A manager from the strip club also told the BBC that she worked extremely long hours on all seven days of the week. She was eventually coerced into swapping the strip club for work as a prostitute.

The women also lived under a strict set of rules, forbidden from interacting with each other and requiring permission to even use the bathroom. Their passports and other documents remained with Torres and they were required to immediately hand over all earnings.

“Human traffickers aren't always like in the movies, where you have… a gang that kidnapped people. It's far more common that it's someone you trust,”Detective David Davol (who eventually interviewed the women) told the BBC.