Kat Torres is a former model and social media influencer. Her online content on Instagram focused on successful and healthy living.
In July 2024, Kat was found guilty of human trafficking and slavery following an FBI investigation into the disappearances of two women.
Kat was born Katiuscia Torres Soares on October 24, 1992. She was born in Belem, Brazil.
Kat based her social media presence on her life story – growing up in poverty and surviving an abusive childhood, before managing to make it big. Kat was featured on Brazilian television regularly, saying that she could predict the future, using her spiritual powers.
Kat was linked to celebrities over the years, including Leonardo DiCaprio. In 2016, she claimed that she was dating him. This was later refuted by apparent sources close to Leonardo. She also modelled and was on the front cover of many magazines. To capitalise on her growing fame, Kat moved to the United States.
A woman, known publicly only as Ana, has come out recently and spoken about her relationship with Kat.
Ana first came across Kat via instagram in 2017. “She kind of resembled hope for me,” says Ana.
“She seemed like she had overcome violence in her childhood, abuse, all these traumatic experiences,” Ana told BBC Eye Investigations and BBC News Brasil.
“She was on the cover of magazines. She was seen with famous people such as Leonardo DiCaprio. Everything I saw seemed credible,” she says.
Ana believed that she came from a similar situation to Kat – she had suffered abuse in childhood and had also moved to the US from Brazil.
After Kat moved to the United States, her ex-flatmate Luzer Twersky, said that she tried Ayahuasca and that changed her.
Luzer said ”That’s when she kind of… started going off the deep end.”
Luzer said that Kat was also working as a sugar baby for multiple men. Those men funded the apartment that she and Luzer were living in, in New York.
In terms of what Kat offered on social media and online, her wellness website and subscription service promised customers: “Love, money and self-esteem that you always dreamed of.” Self-help videos offered advice on relationships, wellness, business success and spirituality – including hypnosis, meditation and exercise programmes.
For an extra $150 (£120) clients could unlock exclusive one-to-one video consultations with Kat during which she would claim to solve any of their problems.
At her peak, she had more than a million followers on Instagram.
One of Kat’s clients, Amanda, said that Kat always made her feel special and that she valued her opinion.
“All my doubts, my questions, my decisions: I always took them to her first, so that we could make decisions together,” she said.
In 2019, Kat asked Ana to move to New York to work as her live-in assistant. Ana had been studying nutrition in Boston. She decided to move her studies online and accepted Kat’s offer. Ana was meant to look after Kat’s pets, and do her cooking, laundry and cleaning for $2,000 per month.
Ana went to New York and arrived at Kat’s apartment. She realized quickly that reality did not match what was being portrayed on Kat’s social media.
“It was shocking because the house was really messy, really dirty, didn’t smell good,” she says.
Ana said that Kat was barely able to function in normal life. She rarely showered as she could not bear to be alone.
Ana has said that she had to be constantly available to Kat. She was only allowed to sleep for a few hours at a time and had to sleep on a cat-urine soaked couch.
Ana has said that she took to hiding in the apartment complex’s gym and would sleep in there.
Ana has said that she was not paid once by Kat.
“I felt like, ‘I’m stuck here, I don’t have a way out,’” she says. “I was probably one of her first victims of human trafficking.”
“Now, I see that she was using me as a slave… she had satisfaction in it,” Ana said.
Ana had given up her student housing in Boston and she now had no money to pay for any alternative housing.
Ana said that she tried to confront Kat about the situation, and that Kat became aggressive. This triggered Ana due to her abusive childhood and past.
Ana eventually managed to escape the situation after three months. She met a man and moved in with him.
By September 2022, Kat’s life had changed. She married a man named Zach who she had met in California. The two moved to Austin, Texas and were renting a five-bedroom house.
Just as a side note, there is hardly any information on Zach. He seems to have totally distanced himself from the situation.
Kat repeated the same pattern of behavior at this time. She targeted her most dedicated followers and asked them to come and work for her. The return would be that she would help them achieve their dreams.
Two women, Desirre Freitas and Leticia Maia – both Brazilian, took Kat up on her offer. They moved to Austin to live with her. Another Brazilian woman, known only as Sol, was also recruited.
Kat called these women her ‘witch clan’ on social media.
Further investigation has uncovered that at least four more women were contemplating joining Kat in Austin but pulled out.
Desirre said that Kat bought her a plane ticket to travel to the United States from Germany where she had been living. Kat told her that she was suicidal and needed Desirre’s support.
Leticia was 14 when she became involved with Kat. She started life-coaching sessions. Kat managed to persuade Leticia to move to the United States to take part in an au pair program. She then convinced her to drop out to live and work for her.
Sol has said that she agreed to move in with Kat after she became homeless. Kat hired her to carry out tarot readings and to lead yoga classes.
The three women found out their life was not turning into a fairytale as Kat had promised.
Desirre said that Kat pressured her into working at a local strip club, within weeks of her moving to Texas. She told Desirre that if she did not work at the club, she would have to repay all the money that had been spent on her to date – flights, accommodation, furniture for her room. Kat also said that Desirre would need to compensate her for the ‘witchcraft’ that had been performed on her.
Desirre said that she did not have any money to repay Kat and that she also believed in the spiritual powers that Kat alleged to possess. Desirre has said that she was terrified that Kat would curse her for not doing what she was told.
Desirre agreed to work as a stripper. The manager at the club, James, spoke to the media and said that Desirre would work long hours, seven days a week.
Desirre and Sol have said that the women who lived in the house in Austin were made to abide by strict rules. They were not allowed to speak to each other. They had to obtain Kat’s permission to leave their bedrooms, even to use the bathroom. They were also made to hand over every dollar that they earned.
Sol told the BBC “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.”
Sol realized how dire the situation was when she overheard Kat telling another client that she must work as a prostitute in Brazil as ‘punishment.’
Sol enlisted the help of an ex-boyfriend to escape from Austin.
“It was very difficult to, you know, get out of the situation because she holds your money,” Sol told the BBC. “It was terrifying. I thought something could happen to me because she had all my information, my passport, my driving license.”
Zach had guns and Kat began to post about the weapons on Instagram regularly. This frightened the women who remained in Austin.
Desirre said that Kat tried to get her to work as a prostitute. She has said that she refused and that the next day, Kat took her to a gun range. Desirre ended up giving into Kat and she began sex work. Prostitution is illegal in Texas and Kat repeatedly threatened to report Desirre to police if she ever wanted to stop the work.
“Many questions haunted me: ‘Could I stop whenever I wanted?’” Desirrê said.
“And if the condom broke, would I get a disease? Could [the client] be an undercover cop and arrest me? What if he killed me?”
Desirre has also said that Kat tried to get her to her IUD removed so that she could get pregnant to a wealthy client.
Kat kept raising the amount of money that the women had to earn. It went from $1,000 to $3,000 per day. If they did not earn that money to hand over to Kat, they were not allowed to return to the house that night.
“I ended up sleeping on the street several times because I couldn’t reach that,” Desirrê said.
Bank statements have been made public. In the documents, it can be seen that Desirre transferred $21,000 into Kat’s accounts in June and July 2022 alone.
She says that she was forced to hand over a substantially higher figure in cash.
In September 2022, family and friends of Desirre and Leticia realized that something was wrong. They had not been able to get in contact with them for months. They started making social media posts, trying to raise awareness about the two women being missing.
Kat had ordered Desirre and Leticia to dye their brunette hair blonde – she wanted to match with them. Desirre has said that all her phone contacts had been blocked by this point.
Ana came across the stories of the two women and she said alarm bells rang. She says she immediately guessed that “ Kat was keeping other girls.”
Ana contacted officials, including the FBI and told them what she knew. She and Sol had previously reported Kat to authorities but she has said they were not taken seriously.
Ana recorded a video for evidence and she can be heard saying “this person is very dangerous and she has already threatened to kill me”.
It was found that Desirre and Leticia had profiles on escort and sex work websites.
Kat began to panic. She took Desirre and Leticia from Texas to Maine. She made them post Instagram videos in which they asked people to stop searching for them and they denied that they were being held.
Behind the scenes, the US authorities were aware of what was going on. Homeland Security told local police. A police officer managed to FaceTime Kat to check out the situation. Kat didn’t seem to realize that FaceTime had connected already and she can be heard saying “He will start asking questions. Guys, they are full of tricks. He’s a detective, be very careful. For God’s sake, I’ll kick you out if you say anything. I’ll scream.”
In November 2022, a police officer finally convinced Kat, Leticia and Desirre to attend a welfare check in person in Franklin County, Maine.
Detective David Davol – told the BBC he and his colleagues had been immediately concerned, noticing a number of red flags, including a distrust of law enforcement, isolation and their reluctance to speak without Kat’s’ permission.
“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.”
This incident seemed to spook Kat, and by the next month, the two women had been safely returned to Brazil.
It was too late for Kat, and she was deported back to Brazil from Maine and she was arrested in November 2022. She was charged with human trafficking and slavery of women.
After her arrest, more than 20 women came forward to speak about their experiences with Kat.
The BBC spoke with Kat in April 2024, while she was awaiting her fate in prison.
“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,” she told the outlet.
“People are saying I am a fake guru, but at the same time, they are also saying that… ‘She is a danger to society because she can change people’s mind with her words.’”
“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.”
As she got up to return to her cell, she issued a threat to the BBC reporter. She pointed to the reporter and said “I didn’t like her.” She also claimed that the media team would soon find out if she had powers or not.
In July 2024, Kat was found guilty and was sentenced to eight years in prison for subjecting Desirre to human trafficking and slavery.
Kat’s lawyer told the media that they will be appealing her conviction and stated that Kat is maintaining her innocence.
Desirre has written a book and she writes in it “ “I’m not fully recovered yet, I’ve had a challenging year. I was sexually exploited, enslaved and imprisoned.
“I hope my story serves as a warning.”
Det Davol says, in his experience, human trafficking is on the rise. His observation is backed up by the UN, which says it is one of the fastest growing crimes, generating an estimated $150bn (£117bn) in profits a year worldwide.
He believes social media gives it a platform on which to thrive, making it much easier for traffickers to find and groom victims.
The second case we are going to discuss is that of Russian influencer Maxim Lyutyi (44) and his partner Oksana Mironova (34). The infant son of the couple died after he was fed on a ‘sunlight diet’ and starved to death.
Maxim was a lifestyle blogger.
He had been known to promote restrictive diets that consisted mainly of raw ingredients. He had around 60k followers at the peak. Maxim described himself as a ‘master of working with the body and consciousness.’ He told his clients that he could heal them.
The couple had a baby together around February 2023, a boy named Kosmos.
The baby was born at the couple’s home because Maxim refused to let Oksana give birth in a hospital.
After the baby was born, Maxim has said that he wanted his son to be like ‘Superman’. He started the baby on a strictly vegan ‘prana’ diet based on foods like berries. He said that the foods he chose were meant to have a positive effect on the body’s spiritual energy.
A more extreme version- known as breatharianism – believes it’s possible to survive on sunlight alone.
Oksana’s cousin Olesya Nikolayeva said: ‘He forced her not to feed the baby. Her boyfriend believed that the sun was feeding the baby.
‘Oksana was secretly trying to breastfeed the baby, but she was very afraid of Maxim.”
‘How is it possible to feed the baby with sunlight? A baby needs his mother’s milk.’
Media outlets have reported that Maxim wanted to ‘experiment on the child, feed him purely with the sun, and then advertise it to others that this is how you can eat.’
Maxim was said to have refused any medicine for the child and also doused him in cold water to ‘toughen him up.’
Oksana’s mother Galina has spoken to the media. She said: ‘I was against my daughter being in this sect.
‘I felt everything, and told her that Maxim was crazy, but she didn’t listen to me.
‘Oksana lived there like a guinea pig. Each time she became colder to me…. She was his slave.’
‘(Lyutyi) forbade her to feed the child. Oxana told me that she secretly fed the baby, but she didn’t have enough money, because he didn’t give her any.
‘I sent Oxana money for food from my pension. She secretly bought baby food.’
In March 2023, when the baby was just a month old, his condition became so dire that Maxim agreed to take him to a hospital. Kosmos was so malnourished that he died while on the way to the hospital. He was found to weigh only 3.5lbs at the time he died. His cause of death was found to be pneumonia and emaciation.
Both Maxim and Oksana were arrested.
Oksana was given a sentenced of two years of ‘correctional labor.’
In court, the prosecution claimed that Maxim would take the baby away from Oksana for a day at a time, to harden him up.
The prosecution said ‘The little body could not withstand the abuse: exhaustion developed and breathing problems appeared. But even in this condition, the child was not shown to doctors.’
Maxim’s lawyer tried to blame Oksana and said that she had an iron deficiency that caused the baby’s illness.
“Several years before meeting Lyutyi, Mironova opted for the vegan lifestyle.
“Premature babies, children of mothers suffering from iron deficiency anaemia during pregnancy, are at risk.”
Maxim initially believed that he would be freed in 2024 but this did not happen. He admitted guilt in the case and was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
He told the court: ‘I fully admit my guilt that through my inaction and frivolity I caused the death by negligence of my long-awaited, beloved first-born.
‘I am also guilty that for the reasons stated above, precisely due to frivolity and carelessness, I improperly fulfilled my parental responsibilities, I repent of this.
‘I admit my guilt,’ he said. ‘If I knew that my son was born prematurely, that his mother had contraindications for pregnancy, then at the first symptoms of the child’s illness.
‘I would immediately contact a hospital, regardless of the wishes and beliefs of the mother…’
‘But I assure you that I never starved the child, did not forbid the mother to feed him, never hardened him and never poured cold water on my child.’
Since being imprisoned, Maxim has started eating meat and pasta.
The last disgraced influencer we are going to discuss in this blog is Utah woman Taylor Frankie Paul.
Taylor is still influencing. She has 4.4m followers on Tiktok and 360k on instagram. She was born in May 1994.
Taylor is grouped in with other ‘Mormon MomTok’ influencers. Taylor originally started posting videos in 2020. She was married at that time to Tate Paul, and the couple had two children together, Indy and Ocean.
Taylor would post choreographed dance routines online and would refer to other Mormon influencers as ‘sister wives’.
Things started going downhill for Taylor in 2022. She suddenly announced that she and Tate were getting divorced and that she had left their home.
“In my twenties, getting divorced, started therapy, living on my own for the first time along with two little kids,” she wrote on a lip-syncing video.
Two days after she released that video, Taylor told followers her marriage breakdown was due to “soft swinging”.
Taylor went live on Tiktok and said that Tate had asked for a divorce because she violated an agreed swinging arrangement made with their other Mormon friends.
She said the couple had participated in “soft swinging” with their married friends, whereby she and the other wives would get drunk before making out with each other and each other’s husbands.
But Taylor admitted that she took things too far one night when she was “belligerent” drunk and “messed around” with one of her friend’s husbands.
“We had an agreement, like all of us, and I did step out of that agreement. That’s where I messed up, and I, obviously, am losing everything that I have,” she said.
“No one was innocent. Everyone has hooked up with everyone in this situation. So, yes, I’m getting shunned for doing that, but it wasn’t like I was going around hooking up with my friend’s husband,” she said.
“I was friends with these people, and we spent a lot of time together. We were intimate on several occasions. Tate has made out with several girls and [done] other things, and I’ve made out with all of the husbands and [done] other things.”
A lot of the Mormon moms posted online to deny they were involved in the soft swinging.
Taylor threw a few of them under the bus by saying that there were “three divorces in our friend group right now.” Although she clarified one was “not really to do with this situation, but there are two of us who are getting divorced.”
By June 2022, Taylor said she wasn’t going to speak about the incident any more.
“After talking with my legal team, I have all rights to share my story if wanted. However, I feel that I shared a part and will not be sharing anything else from here on out,” she said on Instagram.
Many have speculated that this whole incident was made public so that Taylor could get a role on the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City. Taylor has always denied this.
Late in 2022, it was revealed that Taylor was dating Dakota Mortensen. She said that he was the man she had ‘cheated’ with during the swinging incident.
The couple fell pregnant at one point earlier in their relationship and Taylor suffered an ectopic pregnancy.
In December 2022, Taylor wrote to her followers, calling 2022 the ‘sh***iest year of my entire life.
‘From rough marriage, to swinging, to divorce, to major loss of some family, best friends, my kids part time, trying to be in another relationship but can’t let myself be happy, to ectopic pregnancy to deep depression.
‘Meanwhile millions of people watched it all and gave their lovey opinions,’ she added.
But she did say she was hoping for a better New Year. ’23 is my number so I’m thinking next year is my year.’
On February 17, 2023, police were called to a home in W Rex Peak Way in Herriman, Utah at 11pm.
According to a probable cause statement, a neighbor reported the incident saying they could hear screaming and yelling from inside Taylor’s home.
When police got to the home, they spoke with Taylor and Dakota at the doorway. Dakota began to explain to police what had happened. Taylor then lunged at him and she pushed and hit him. Police separated them.
Taylor allegedly hit Dakota multiple times during an argument. She also threw objects such as metal chairs and a wooden playset at him. She was said to be intoxicated during the incident.
Video also showed that Taylor kicked Dakota, she put him in a ‘choke hold, she struck him ‘multiple times’ and hit him with a metal bar stool three times.
When Taylor threw the stool for the second time, she ‘caused a hole in a wall and knocked down home decor.’
Taylor’s 5 year-old daughter was in the same room as the adults at the time this was all happening. Video evidence also later showed that the child may have been injured by Taylor during the altercation after one of the chairs struck her. The child sustained a ‘goose egg’ injury on her head.
Taylor was arrested on charges of assault, criminal mischief and domestic violence in the presence of a child. The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office said they were screening the case for felony assault charges and a misdemeanor charge of reckless child abuse.
Dakota would later post about the incident. He said that Taylor had been at a Galentine’s Party that he picked her up from that evening.
‘I’m not even allowed to speak with her,’ Dakota said. ‘I really don’t want to talk about it but I want to clarify a few things.
‘I didn’t call 911,’ he added, saying he thinks a neighbor may have called.
‘I’m going to wait for everything to come out before I speak on it,’ he said.
But then he let slip, ‘She never hurt anyone intentionally.’ When pressed for specifics he said he didn’t want to elaborate. ‘We didn’t argue.’
‘I don’t even want the truth to come out. She’s so broken right now. I tried to help her,’ he said. ‘She’s a good mom, she’s going through a lot in her life right now. Taylor’s been struggling, it’s been a hard year for her. She is racked with guilt on her cheating scandal that cost her her marriage.’
On August 25, 2023, Taylor took a deal and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. The other charges were dismissed. The plea will be held in abeyance for three years, at which time the charge will be entered as a Class A misdemeanour, if Taylor abides to the terms of the deal
According to her plea agreement, over the next three years, Taylor must obtain both a substance abuse evaluation and a domestic violence evaluation and complete any recommended treatment. She also must not violate any laws above a minor traffic violation.
She will also be supervised by an adult probation and parole officer and will be required to submit to drug testing — and was also prohibited from frequenting places where alcohol is the chief item of sale, according to the plea agreement. She was sentenced to serve one day in jail, with credit for one day previously served.
She made a Tiktok regarding her plea deal.
“I don’t owe anyone an explanation besides the people involved. Court is officially over til next year. They’ll just check in and see how I’m doing — if I’m still doing better. As much as I wish that night had went differently, I felt like hitting rock bottom actually helped me in some ways. Made me seek help that I wasn’t getting.”
SOURCE LIST
https://www.instagram.com/taylorfrankiepaul/?hl=en
https://www.mamamia.com.au/taylor-frankie-paul-now
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cydvj6951dyo
https://www.ladbible.com/news/crime/maxim-lyutyi-russia-baby-sunlight-652876-20240416
