Instagram Model Jailed 8 Years for Locking 20 Fans in Her Home for 3 Years

0:00 Cat Torres, a former model turned life coach with over 1 million followers, appeared to offer everything a vulnerable woman could ask for. Healing, success, and romance. I saw that she was hope and she was the person that would guide me into this. I invested my whole life in her. But she needed something in exchange. Come live with her in Texas. Rooms available and rentree. Flights paid. She'll even pay you $2,000 a month. But unfortunately, it really was too good to be true. We're never allowed to leave the house. Once they were under Cat's roof, they were under her rules. You know, we can't say no to cats and don't tell anyone about it. Cat managed to lure over 20 women and nobody knew

0:46 what happened to them until one victim escaped. I wasly exploited, enslaved, and imprisoned. So, who was the person behind the lie that was Cat Torres? What was being done to these women and why? Cat Torres seemed to have it all, beauty, success, and fame. But her story didn't start in luxury. Born on October 24, 1992 in Balem, Brazil, Cat grew up in poverty, enduring both financial hardship and the emotional toll of an alcoholic father. Yet, despite her difficult upbringing, one thing set her apart: her looks. By age 12, she was modeling and competing in beauty pageantss. But fame also brought danger. Cat was stepping into a world she didn't

1:32 realize had a dark side. According to the model, she was saaid by men involved in organizing the beauty pageantss she competed in, an experience that would later shape her. Cat, however, pushed past her trauma and went on to win Miss Cayeris walk at Sound Paulo Fashion Week and sign with Elite Modeling. Cat spent years traveling between cities and working with the top photographers in Europe. And when she was spotted with Leonardo DiCaprio, well, her status as Leonardo's new blonde only increased her popularity. Cat never confirmed it, and by the time Leonardo denied it, she already had what she wanted, fame. Yes, it was clear Cat Torres was hungry for stardom, but what the model wanted to do with her increasing influence, that remained a mystery. Following her

2:19 success in modeling, Cat moved to America where she began her career as an influencer. Cat seemed to know how to use her stardom to her advantage by becoming a businesswoman. She was a ex-model that decided to turn into a life coach. She she knew everybody. On social media, Cat shared snippets of her daily routine, her fitness regimen, and her journey to self-improvement. Her authenticity resonated with many, and her following on Instagram soon hit over 1 million. Among those 1 million followers were diehard fans ready to do whatever Cat told them to. So, when Cat

3:05 made the pivot from model to life coach, her message was simple yet powerful. If I can do it, so can you. And her followers ate it all up. Everything that I saw seemed credible. Seemed like she was a ex model that decided to turn into a life coach. Cat took advantage of her growing influence and began offering courses, dating advice, and one-on-one coaching sessions, which ran as high as $700. But this was a small price to pay to receive advice from someone as successful as Cat. See, from posts of her luxury vacations to her New York apartment with an enviable view of the Hudson River and the Statue of Liberty, Cat appeared to have it all. But were savings from her modeling career really funding this extravagant lifestyle? Or was someone helping Cat out behind the

3:52 scenes? It was obvious to me that someone was paying for all this. This is Loser Torski, actor, writer, and Cat Torres's former roommate. Loser told BBC he wasn't paying for the flat they had shared in New York. And from what he believed, neither was Cat. See, one day, Cat sent Loser down to the lobby to pick up an envelope that was full of cold, hard cash. Loser made the same assumption many would, that Cat was a sugar baby. In fact, he was aware of one of the older gentlemen supposedly funding her lifestyle. My understanding is that there was a Russian oligarch who was taking care of her and that he was paying for that apartment. to friends. Cat referred to her mysterious benefactor simply by the initial a. Yet, despite the secrecy, his alleged connections to Putin and the luxury

4:38 items he gifted Cat, including a diamondcovered Rolex, made it clear he was a powerful man. While Cat seemingly wasn't the self-made woman she claimed to be on social media, that didn't stop her from profiting off of her followers trust. But with over 1 million followers hanging on her every word. Hi, my name is I'm a very good person. Was Cat's influence impressive or dangerous? Well, when one health scare sent everything she built crashing down, Cat's life and social media went down a dark path. It all began when Cat returned from Brazil to New York with a deadly souvenir, a flesh-eating disease. To survive, Cat had to remove her implants and eventually her left breast. a journey she documented on social media. This

5:24 decision, however, backfired. Once she had the surgery, I I think that most of those men were gone. Yes. Cat's rich suitors along with her mysterious Russian boyfriend allegedly no longer saw the appeal in dating the influencer. Feeling abandoned, Cat turned to the spiritual. Specifically, she began taking, a psychoactive beverage used in indigenous rituals. However, the Iawaska ceremonies Cat attended weren't in a hut, but in Hollywood Hills with celebrity friends. It was at one of these sessions that she met her husband, Colburn Bell, a crypto trader. But it wasn't just Cat's relationship status that changed during this time. After the Iwasa is when she flipped. That's when she kind of like started going off the

6:09 deep end. C claims she was born with a gift, spiritual insight, and the ability to predict the future. She called this gift the voice and began using it in her self-help practice as she transitioned from life coach to spiritual guru. It was around this time that Cat became inspired by the work of two men, Brazilian psychic John of God, who was later convicted of SA and motivational speaker Tony Robbins. According to Cat's husband, she would drag him along to their meetings. After that, they spent time in Brazil looking into different religious practices. It seemed she was looking for an answer. But to what? At this point, only one thing was clear. Cat was deeply invested in the spiritual. An obsession that would soon tear her marriage apart. Coburn tried to

6:55 support Cat's social media career, which involved her posting with luxury bags he didn't know how she afforded. Tricking hotel workers into letting her into expensive rooms and taking photos like she spent the night there, and even memes. Yes, Cat was the face behind a popular meme in Brazil. something she pushed out anonymously to increase her fame. However, when it came to the voice and Cat's newfound spirituality, Cobburn wasn't sure what he was dealing with. Cat had written a book titled The Voice, which she insisted came to her in a trance. She also talked about hearing voices. [Music]

7:57 Voices that talk about other planets, messages that civilization isn't prepared for, and the possibility of death. Were these the words of a woman experiencing a breakthrough? Or the troubling delusions of a woman who wasn't just a danger to herself, but to others? After becoming increasingly aggressive and hostile, Cat's marriage began to fall apart. But then things took an even stranger turn. One day, Coburn came home to find a woman in their apartment, a woman Cat claimed was now living with them. Her name was Anna. Anna was one of Cat's clients who she persuaded to move from Boston to New York to work for her. Cat told her she would pay her $2,000 a month to look after her pets as well as cooking and laundry. But Anna quickly learned Cat wasn't the person she presented herself to be online. The house was a mess. The

8:43 sofas were covered in cat pee and Cat, well, she was strange. Cat constantly needed someone to talk to, and that meant even when she took a shower, Anna had to accompany her. The only downtime Anna got was when Cat was out, not with her husband, but according to Anna, with her boyfriends. And then when she came home, whether it was at 2, 3:00 am, then I had to wake up. It got to the point that Anna became so sleepd deprived that she would tell Cat she was going to the gym to work out. But in reality, but I would go down to sleep in the yoga mat just so she wouldn't come after me. Did you catch that? Just so she wouldn't come after me. Yes, Anna was clearly frightened of Cat. And the influencer used this to her advantage. According to Anna, Cat never paid her for her work.

9:29 When she brought this up to Cat, the self-help guru allegedly became aggressive, bringing up dark memories of DV for Anna. While Anna escaped Cat's clutches after 3 months of unpaid work, it took over a year to cut off communication with Cat for good. That's how much control Cat had over her followers, and she was about to weaponize this power in the most twisted way. By this point, Cobburn was done. But before he could file for divorce, Cat disappeared. It took Coburn hiring a private investigator to serve Cat divorce papers. But where had Cat gone? And more importantly, what was she planning? In 2022, then 30-year-old Cat moved to Texas with a 21-year-old named Zach, her new husband. The two had met in California before relocating to the

10:15 Lonear State, where they moved into a five-bedroom home, which they would soon share with other guests. See, after moving, Cat confided in some of her most loyal followers that she was having a mental health crisis and needed them to join her. In exchange, they would get personal access to the voice. Three vulnerable Brazilian women, Leticia Maya Alvarena, Desiree Freighas, and a woman who goes by the alias soul, jumped at what they believed was the opportunity for a better life. After all, they trusted Cat Torres fully. Desiree, for example, believed a session with Cat had healed her migraines. After that, she often sought out the guru's wisdom, including for her marital struggles. And what was Cat's advice? Leave your marriage. Come and work with me in

11:00 Texas. Eventually, Desiree agreed. Cat dubbed the group of young women from Brazil her witch clan. Yes, Cat had gotten into witchcraft. She even had a room dedicated exclusively to the practice, complete with an altar. It was in this room that Cat would give the women spiritual advice, steering them in whatever direction she or the voice wanted them to go. For example, when Desiree told Cat to ask the voice where she was going to meet her husband, according to Soul, Desiree received some unusual advice. And the girl looked at me in eyes and said, "I want you to drive me to a strip club because it's in there that I'm going to find my husband." So Desiree went to dance at the local strip club where she became Chanel. Yes, the women knew to follow

11:46 Cat's orders whether they wanted to or not. See, there were times the women did talk about leaving. However, since Cat paid for their plane tickets, food, and housing, she insisted that they couldn't leave until they paid her back. She said, "If I decided to leave, all these expenses would be charged, and if I didn't pay, she would curse me." The hierarchy of the house was clear. Desiree, Leticia, and Soul were at the bottom. And Cat, I'm the queen of the universe. I'm Melina. I'm Melina. Mother Mary and Zach. You're gonna be listening to me him like he is God himself. Like he's God himself. Like he's God himself. We're at the top. At least as long as Zach didn't step out of line. He's fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine. He's my husband.

12:32 Husband. Husband. and you listen to he says, "Unless he wants to kill me or or destruct me or stop me, but you should not touch him." According to Cat's teachings, big dreams meant big sacrifices. This included their income. Everything Desiree made at the strip club went directly into Cat's pockets. Cat, however, was never satisfied. She demanded that Desiree make $1,000 a day, and when she did, that number grew. In the meantime, Cat was making her own revenue by charging followers for spiritual baths. During these sessions, Cat or one of her assistants would attempt to recruit clients to work for Cat. One woman told the BBC about her experience receiving a spiritual bath from one of Cat's assistants. She told me to imagine herself in the nightclubs

13:18 going out, talk to guys. They're going to give you money. Imagining you getting money from them and bringing luggage, full luggage of money to Cat. The assistant then told her that no one could say no to Cat and that she couldn't tell anyone about what was going on in the house. The client had a bad feeling and trusting her gut instinct decided not to move in with Cat. Desiree, Leticia, and Soul, however, were trapped in a situation that was becoming increasingly hostile. See, not only could the women not leave, they couldn't speak. That's right. It was called the law of silence, a rule introduced by Cat that forbade the women from speaking to each other or leaving their rooms without Cat's permission, even if they just needed to use the bathroom. But what was Cat planning? The

14:06 women began to notice a disturbing direction Cat's coaching was taking. See, in conversations, Cat started trying to normalize SW to the women, claiming she knew multiple models who were part of the trade in LA. She even tried to tempt Desiree. Think about it. What you can make in 15 hours at the club, you can make in 1 hour with a man. Soul also overheard Cat talking on the phone with a client, telling the woman, "You have been punished by the voice to be an SW in Brazil." After that, Soul planned her escape and 42 days later, with the help of an ex-boyfriend, she was free. However, the fear remained. The problem was the girls had given Cat access to everything. Their documents, their passports, their birth certificates, and Cat's husband, Zach,

14:52 well, he made it no secret he was wellarmed. It's my favorite. It's like the It's my pack driver. We We'll have to have a competition with that gun to see who's the best. I'm going to be the best always marksman because that gun is so accurate. Yes, if Cat and Zach chose to come after Soul, there was no telling how much damage they could [Laughter] do. Maya, but at least she was out. The other girls weren't so lucky. Powerless and in Cat's complete control, Desiree eventually agreed to start SW. In Searching Desiree, a book that Desiree wrote following her time with Cat. She recalled her first experience in SW. I

15:37 charge $1,000. Without even absorbing the situation, that phrase came out of my mouth. It took me a few seconds to understand the real gravity of what I had just done. The customer had already accepted. Desiree began meeting up with men, living under constant fear that she would be arrested, discovered as an illegal immigrant, or even killed, all while continuing to work long hours at the strip club. In her book, she described bathing after she met up with a particularly aggressive client and scrubbing herself until she saw Red. Of course, any money she made went directly to Cat. Cat claimed she couldn't work due to health issues and that Zach had to stay home and take care of her when he wasn't training for his MMA career. Yes. The voice told her Zach was going to make millions from his new career path. They just needed Desiree to work

16:23 to pay for his personal trainer. Cat appeared to have no regard for Desiree or Leticia's safety as she set up dating profiles for them on Sugar Baby and Escort websites. After that, Cat set Desiree up with multi-millionaire sugar daddies and raised her daily income target to 3,000, an amount that she had to meet or she was forced to sleep outside. Cat also made it clear she had no problem calling the police on Desiree and Leticia if they ever tried to stop her. Slowly, Cat morphed the girls into her clones as she dyed their hair blonde. Desiree even began wearing contacts to match Cat. But was Cat's past of tormenting and threatening young women about to catch up with her. In April 2022, Cat attacked her former assistant Anna in an Instagram post calling her a traitor. "Your skull will

17:08 be placed in a special place in my home." Cat ominously threatened. I just got really scared like I had panic attack and she was demanding all her followers to tag me. She called me a slave in her post. She says that she made my life hell. Following Cat's social media outburst, both Anna and Soul filed police reports. However, their concerns weren't taken seriously, at least not yet. But over in Brazil, people were worried. In September 2022, after the families of Desiree and Leticia lost contact with the women, missing persons reports were filed. Quickly, the story became front page news in Brazil, receiving coverage from both

17:54 journalists. Leticia and Desiree weren't the only names circulating the press and social media. So was their guru, Cat Torres. Cat's temper, her delusions, and her shady business practices had the public deeply concerned for the safety of the women who left their home country to live with her. A victim that Cat scammed even came forward to reveal an alarming amount of money the guru allegedly scammed her out of. Cat was away on vacation while the rumors about Leticia and Desiree were blowing up. However, that didn't stop

18:40 the guru from jumping online to defend herself. That's when the story took another bizarre turn. Leticia and Desiree posted their own videos claiming they wanted to live with Cat. And to make their loyalty to their guru clear, they even turned against their families. Yes, according to the women, they had chosen to cut off their loved ones. Leticia even vilified her father, claiming he had mistreated her, an allegation she would later take back.

19:32 To some this may seem like a resolved case, but to many something was off. Just like how Cat Torres tricked the women into dancing in SW. Was it possible these women were forced to say this? The video had red flags. They spoke about Cat like she wasn't just a godlike figure, but the only person capable of saving the world. This is with the help of Facebook CEO and the Russian president Mark Zukenberg Vladimir Putin.

20:28 Speculation began to grow that Cat was giving the women iawasa as well as hypnotizing and manipulating them to make them easier to control. Several times they appeared drugged and speaking disconnected phrases. The Brazilian newspaper O Globbo reported, "Yes, something deeply disturbing was happening in Cat Torres's home, and the public was determined to get to the bottom of it. Among these amateur sleuths was one of Brazil's top models with 3.2 million followers, Yasmine Brunette." One day, the model joined Leticia's Instagram live and asked her to film the room around her to prove she wasn't being threatened to make these videos defending Cat. Leticia reportedly became visibly irritated at the request and ended the live stream. That however was not the end of the faceoff between the young women and the model. See,

21:15 Desiree and Leticia went on to accuse Yasmin of a crime that Cat was guilty of. Fore! Foreign! Foreign!

22:01 Yasmin responded to this allegation with a police complaint. I'm going to make a point of showing them that there are indeed laws on the internet that need to be followed," she said on Instagram. Leticia ended up taking back her accusations against Yasmine, giving the following excuse for the slander. Since Yasm mean incriminating Cat, we started incriminating her to see what it's like to be innocent of something and see her life take the course it has, like the three of us have. That's the only way they stopped calling the police on Cat. The police couldn't handle the calls anymore. It's been days of terror. But as it turned out, police were finally starting to take the allegations against Cat seriously. When Leticia and Desire's escort profiles were dug up, along with Cat's home address, the group fled to Maine. Back in Texas, a number of their belongings were then left on the front

22:47 lawn where a neighbor discovered something unsettling. These are voodoo dolls, so that was unusual. He also found dried herbs that clearly weren't meant for cooking. They were good for romance, for health, for this, but three of them were also good for exorcisms, which I thought was a little unusual. Unusual was one word for it. The group's attempt to flee, however, didn't stop those Cat had scarred in the past from their relentless pursuit of justice. I started to contact many people to get Cat to be arrested. I did an online report to the FBI exposing everything that I had from Cat because at that point I saw that she was involved in girls. And of course, Cat didn't take this negative attention lightly. She lashed out at everyone,

23:33 including her husband's father. When you die, I hope you listen to this. You understand this. Die. leave me and my family alone. But virtual tirades and curses wouldn't make these problems go away. By this point, the police wanted answers, and they were about to go straight to the source. When Cat was on the road with Leticia and Desiree, a cop called and asked to speak with the girls. Desire, did you color your hair? Uh, yeah, but a long time. Oh, okay. I guess for some reason I thought it was black. No. No. No. Okay. My mistake. And how are you liking uh America so far? Very nice. Everybody treat you kindly? Yes. You're you're doing well. Your safe and sound. You look like you're doing well. I don't

24:19 see what the issue is. And again, they came here on their own. They didn't come here for me. They are helping me out. Yeah. But I just don't want anything bad to happen to them. The call was an attempt to check whether Leticia and Desiree were being held against their will. The girls, however, were clearly too loyal to Cat to speak out. But something of interest did come from this call with police, and it happened before the conversation even started. Little did Cat know, she was being secretly recorded, and the video exposed her uttering threats to the girls to behave. Following the call, a police officer persuaded Cat to visit the station in

25:05 Maine with Leticia and Desiree. Once detectives met them in person, the entire charade fell apart. Leticia and Desiree were extremely closed off and distrusting of law enforcement. A worrying sign for detectives considering this behavior was common in victims of trafficking. As for Cat, she wouldn't provide straight answers to simple questions like what she did for a living or what the girls helped her with. Eventually, authorities discovered Cat was involved in trafficking and exploitation. They recognized Cat was using textbook trafficking tactics from gaining the trust of these women to financially isolating them. On top of this, they also discovered Cat overstayed her visa. All of this led to her deportation back to Brazil, where she was then arrested.

25:55 She was charged with human trafficking, slave labor, and medical fraud. Her first trial dealt with Desiree's allegations, and while awaiting the verdict from prison, she gave the BBC an exclusive interview in 2024. But was Cat ready to take responsibility? Or did Cat truly believe she had done nothing wrong? Well, Cat made it clear she was nothing like the other inmates in the prison. I am one year and a half in jail. In real jail with real people that commit committed real crimes. We we're talking about people that killed like 10 people, 15 people. As for the supposed real crimes that she had committed, according to Cat, there was no truth to the allegations or the testimony provided by over 20 of her supposed victims in court. When I was seeing the

26:43 the the people testifying, they were saying so many lies. So many lies that at one point I couldn't stop laughing. In fact, the evidence against her was so unbelievable to Cat that she assumed she'd be in prison for no more than 20 days. But 2 years later, there she was. Why is the judge keeping you in prison? If you make the people are saying that I am a problem outside that I can take the minds of the people and change them. But that's what Cat couldn't understand. Was she a fraud or was she a master manipulator? People are saying I am a fake guru but at the same time they're also saying that I'm so real and so dangerous. It was clear how Cat

27:29 preferred to see herself. She is a uh danger to society because she can change people's mind with her words. She can too. Can you can I? You tell me. Can I? I hope I can. She even went on to deny that any women ever lived with her. No women lived with me other than my dog. And when BBC correspondents pointed out that there were messages from her own Instagram page inviting people to come live with her, she denied this evidence as well. Do you think the messages that we've seen from women are fake? Absolutely. Yes. As for the bank transfers of Desiree supposedly sending her paychecks to Cat's account. Cat claimed this was

28:14 for Uber rides. I have seen some Uber receipts that was like 3,000 $4,000 per month. She also denied that she was behind the post about Anna's skull or that Anna ever worked for her or lived with her at all. Cat then made it clear that she didn't believe any of her former clients who claimed they suffered from PTSD after their experiences with her. I have to say they are absolutely ridiculous and that they need to run back to their parents. According to Cat, her advice was just as perfect as she was. So there is people that are born with no talents and there are people that are born with all talents. I think it's me. When asked if she took any accountability for the allegations against her, Cat responded, "Zero." Instead, she maintained that she didn't

29:00 deserve to be in prison. You choose to believe whatever you choose to believe. I can tell you I'm Jesus and and you can see Jesus or you can see the devil. That's it. But when the interview ended, it was the devil and cat that came out. line. Thank you very much. I didn't like her. Yes, Cat was caught on camera threatening a reporter. And while Cat believed she was innocent, the judge was not convinced. In the end, the guru was sentenced to 8 years for the human trafficking and slavery of Desiree. Her disturbing interview along with the short sentence caused outrage. Her sentence of 8 years in prison is a joke. Her lack of remorse should qualify her to never be released. Human

29:47 trafficking should get you life in prison. No parole. You stay in prison for the rest of your life. No exceptions. Others highlighted a real conversation about social media's impact on society. Kids should be taught in school that idolizing strangers is wrong. Here's the tip. She didn't turn into a narcissistic monster. People followed her because she already was. Society really needs to adjust what it values in people. Women's Insecurities is one of the biggest businesses in the world. Once a person or company figures out how to tap into it, the money just starts rolling in. Tik Tok does this to millions of women every day. Some were concerned Zach hadn't received any legal punishment. How about the husband that used to walk around the house with firearms threatening the girls? He is her accomplice in everything. According to reports, further investigations into

30:34 other allegations against Cat Torres are ongoing in Brazil. So, if new evidence emerges involving additional victims, crimes, or charges, Cat could face more prison time. For some of her victims, Cat's conviction marks the beginning of healing. I feel better because I know she's in jail. And my hopes is that the more I talk about it and more victims are going to come out and, you know, tell their stories. But not everyone feels safe. While the judge banned Cat from using the internet after her release, we know rules never stopped Cat Torres before. And that's what still haunts the people she left behind. We are all afraid that whenever she gets out, she's actually going to do it again. Cat isn't the first to take advantage of her fan base. Check out these stories and consider subscribing to stay updated.

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