New Delhi, India

Kat Torres, a former Brazilian model and social media influencer, has been sentenced to eight years in prison for human trafficking and slavery. She has also been linked to Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio. 

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In September 2022, a desperate search was launched for two young Brazilian women: Desirrê Freitas, a Brazilian living in Germany and Letícia Maia. 

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and their families searched for them across the United States. They were reported to be living with Torres. Other people, reportedly trafficked by Torres, have spoken up about their experiences. 

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What did Kate Torres really do? 

Torres, who was on the cover of international magazines, was found guilty of enslaving and trafficking one of the women and was given an eight-year prison sentence. BBC World Service also learned that the accusations had been brought against her concerning the second woman. 

As quoted by BBC, a woman identified as Ana (a survivor), said, "She kind of resembled hope for me. She seemed like she had overcome violence in her childhood, abuse, all these traumatic experiences." 

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Notably, Ana was not among the missing women but was reportedly a victim of Torres' coercion. She described her reaction while speaking to the news outlet. She said she came across Torres' Instagram page in 2017. As per the outlet, she claims she was attracted to Torres' journey from Brazil to worldwide catwalks. Ana also found her time spent partying with A-list Hollywood stars quite inspiring. 

"She was on the cover of magazines. She was seen with famous people such as Leonardo DiCaprio. Everything I saw seemed credible," she said as quoted. 

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Ana said that she moved to New York in 2019, and found that her glitzy and glamorous life seen on social media is far different from reality. The house where she lived was filthy. Torres asked Ana to take care of animals, do other household work such as cooking, laundry and cleaning for $2000 a month. Ana said that he was deprived of sleep and was never paid. 

Luzer Twersky, who is Torres' ex-flatmate in New York, told the outlet that her Hollywood friends had introduced her to the hallucinogenic drug ayahuasca. She was never the same again after that and started saying that she had spiritual powers. 

Torres also developed a subscription-based wellness website that promised customers "Love, money and self-esteem that you always dreamed of". She also released videos of programmes on relationships, wellness, hypnosis, meditation and more. 

Somehow, Ana managed to escape and after that Torres reportedly hired two more women, Desirre and Leticia. They moved with her to a house in Texas. 

But the fate was different for other women as the report noted that Desirre was pressured into working at a local strip club while Torres performed "witchcraft" on her. Later, the social media influencer also convinced Desiree to turn to prostitution. 

However, when the search for the two women gained pace, it alerted Ana. But Torres along with the two women travelled from Texas to Maine. She even forced them to lie in a video to escape media attention. They said that they were not held captive and also urged people to stop searching for them. But police nabbed her and questioned all three of them. The two women were saved and returned to Brazil by December 2022. 

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How is she linked with Leonardo DiCaprio? 

In 2013, Torres, then aged 24, implied that she was dating DiCaprio while staying at a house in Cannes. At the event, they were photographed together, surrounded by security. She had alleged that the American actor is so paranoid about tabloid intrusion that he is scared to even take a stroll in public. 

Torres once told AceShowbiz magazine: "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. He doesn't like being photographed and barely goes out walking once people have realised it's him." 

(With inputs from agencies)