i remember she has like one million followers on her instagram. i was like, "yeah, i want to be like her." the rise of kat torres seemed to be the ultimate rags—to—riches story. from extreme poverty to international model and wellness influencer, she captivated women all over the world. everything that i saw seemed credible, seemed like she was an ex—model that decided to turn into a life coach. but behind the perfectly curated instagram posts and the promise of all the love, money and self—esteem that you always dreamed of, lay a very dark reality. she was so blissful. she was so sweet. and then she turned into an absolute narcissistic monster. she took these girls - and she convinced them to do whatever she wanted them to do, just like a cult. - i was in a strange city, in a strange hotel, having sex

with a stranger for money. how did i get here? i think i was probably one of the first victims of human trafficking. she was using me as a slave. witchcraft, sexual exploitation and missing women. then, a desperate search by their families and the fbi. they are saying she is a danger to society because she can - change people's minds with her words. - she can...phew! can you? can n — you tell me, can i? i hope i can.

she told me about the hollywood industry and the experiences she had in los angeles, the people she met, the parties she went to. she knew several models and influencers who had become prostitutes in europe and in the united states. before i could even ask for an explanation, she said that i was wasting a million—dollar opportunity. she talked about the money she had spent on me, including tickets, accommodation, food, furniture for my room and even the witchcraft she had done. she said if i decided to leave, all these expenses would be charged. and if i didn't pay, she would curse me. kat continued to seek out new revenue streams and started charging followers for spiritual baths. kat, or one of her assistants, would often use this as an opportunity to try and convince the client to come

and work for her. she told me to imagine yourself in the nightclubs 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 kat. and i remember she was saying, "do you know you can't say no to kat? "and you need to follow what she is telling you to do "and don't tell anyone about it." i was very afraid about it. i was with that bad feeling, that intuition. like something bad could happen to me if i go there to austin and be with kat. and at that point i was like, "i don't want to go. "i don't want to be in that situation." leticia tupinamba decided not to travel to austin to move in with kat.

in the house, the women say kat introduced a law of silence. they were forbidden from communicating with each other and they couldn't leave their rooms without kat's permission. as her grip on the women tightened, they say they began to be encouraged down an even more dangerous path. we're never allowed to leave the house. it was a very difficult to get out of the situation because she hold your money, she hold your all your informations. kat said, "you know, you don't have to keep working "at the club if you start to feel bad.

"hang out with the guys. "i'm sure that several men you've met have approached "you asking how much it would cost for time with you. "think about it. "what you can make in 15 hours at the club, _ "you can make in one hour with a man." i heard her on the phone with a girl who is in brazil. she was saying, "you haven't been punished by the voice "to be a prostitute in brazil." isaid, "ok, i need to get out of here." after 42 days, with the help of a former boyfriend, sol managed to escape. but she says she still feared kat. her husband at the time, | zach, had at the house... i think it's texas, right? so about six guns. so it was terrifying. something could've happened to me because she had my. address and all my informations. - my passport, she took i a picture of my passport, took a picture of my driver's license. - zach: maya... laughter kat: maya!

desirre writes of how kat repeatedly threatened her and eventually, scared and lost, she gave in to kat's demand that she work as a prostitute. on the way to meet the client, my legs wouldn't stop shaking. when i opened the bedroom door, many questions haunted me. could i stop whenever i wanted? if the condom broke, would i get a disease? could it be an undercover cop and arrest me? what if he killed me? desirre describes how kat began setting up profiles

for her on sugar baby and escort websites. she says she was forced to juggle escort work with performing at the strip club. prostitution is illegal in texas. desirre says kat would threatened to report her to the police if she ever talks about wanting to stop. i also met multimillionaire sugar daddies. the more powerful they were, the more dangerous and unpredictable. kat said i needed to get out of my comfort zone to make more money. she established that i could only return home after reaching a daily goal of $3,000. i ended up sleeping on the street several times because i couldn't reach that. in the name of mother maryi and your queen, kat torres, the messiah, i'm jesus christ. understand me? _ during this time, kat's social media presence became more and more disturbing. you see the mirror? you're going to lay. on the floor with this position, like this, i

with your hands here, where we can see them. lay on the floor. leticia, feel me. feel my body, my body, my body. you're going to lay like this i when sacramento passes you. are you filming me? mm-hm _ do they understand? yes _ arms are right here, i away from your body. do not touch each other. around april of 2022, she made an instagram post threatening me. in the post, she says that she's going to hang my skull, that i was a traitor, that she had welcomed me in her house, and i betrayed her trust. and i was going to pay with my life for what i had done to her. and ijust 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 make my life hell. unbeknown to kat, both ana and sol had filed police reports against her. meanwhile, the families of desirre and leticia had lost all contact with the women and started to become anxious about their whereabouts.

in brazil, the story dominated news outlets. the women's family and friends started social media campaigns in a desperate bid to find them. as the search intensified, their instagram accounts grew. kat, away on holiday, began a counteroffensive. she also ordered desirre and leticia maia to post videos of their own.

and the address of the austin house, kat sent plane tickets for the women tojoin her in maine. i started to contact many people to get kat to be arrested. i did an online report to the fbi exposing everything that i had from kat, because at that point i saw

that she was involved in prostituting girls. i was seeing the posts that she was doing, and i was like, "she's keeping other girls." but the police were now on their trail. kat was on the road when a law enforcement officer called to check the girls weren't being held against their will. yes. that's me. uh, yeah, buta long time. no. very nice. yes. and again, they came here on their own. . they didn't come here for me. they are helping me out. yeah. but ijust don't want anything

bad to happen to them. - what kat didn't know is that the call had been secretly recorded, including moments before when she is heard threatening the women. a law enforcement officer eventually convinced kat to visit a police station in maine. a law enforcement officer eventually convinced kat to visit a police station in maine. when they came in, what was kind of concerning was the girls behaviour. they were definitely very closed off, and that is fairly common with human trafficking survivors. they have a severe distrust for law enforcement, usually ingrained by the trafficker. getting inside with kat and when we were doing the interview and she really didn't give a model of what her business was for or how it worked. it just said that the girls worked with her and she was a life coach for other girls.

there's also another immediate red flag where...this is what she does. she takes these young women under her wing. she said there was nothing to see here. it was all made up by haters. human traffickers aren't always like in the movies where you have maybe a gang that kidnap people. it's far more common that it's someone you trust. it's more like a relationship is built and trust is gained and it's grooming tactics, like that. that's when i realised all the manipulation and brainwashing i had suffered at kat's hands. she was promising people things that she could never— do for them. she took these girls - and she convinced them to do whatever she wanted them to do. just like a cult. she became like a cult leader.

kat was deported back to brazil facing charges of human trafficking, slave labour, and medicalfraud. kat has been in prison since november, 2022. over 20 women have reported being scammed or exploited by her, many of whom the bbc has spoken to. the first trial, which dealt with desirre�*s allegations, took place last year behind closed doors. a number of other women also testified. now kat is awaiting the verdict. before, i would describe myself as a model, as a guru. -

now i describe myself as a prisoner. - the team from bbc eye investigations and bbc news brasil gained a rare court order to interview kat in prison. this is the first time since her arrest that kat is being interviewed. i am one year. and a half injail. in realjail with real people. that committed real crimes. we're talking about people that killed, like, _ ten people, 15 people. 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. - i believe maybe i'm - here for more 20 days, ten more days. because there is no proof, so there is no crime. - there is no way. why is the judge keeping you in prison if you don't deserve to be here? because the people are saying

that i am a problem outside, i that i can take the minds- of the people and change them. people are saying i am a fake guru, but at the same time . they are also saying that i am so real and so dangerous that i can take his mind or whoever mind and change his mind. - this is written in my paper so i am only talking - what is written in my paper. says, "she is a danger- to society because she can "change people's mind with her words." - she can... phew. - can you? can n — you tell me, can i? i hope i can. i had a voice that spoke i with me and my whole life i would tell people, "oh, so, the voice is saying i "this to you. "the voice is saying that to you. - "the voice is saying this." people willjust bend - down to me and be like, "oh. myeod. — give me some advice, please." like this.

very rich people, - very powerful people. she was a...by definition, a master manipulator, although i believe her intent in that manipulation was positive. she knew exactly what she was doing. she was trying to tell the courthouse, "no, it was not my intention." and that she was not a pimp. you can fool them, but you cannot fool me. i was living in there with you. nobody lived with me. no women lived with me other than my dog. - that is a girl. . my cat is a girl. no women live with me. we've seen messages from you inviting young women to live with you. ma'am, if you did not see a message in the federall police, you cannot believe this message is from me. | there is no way i send - a message to a person saying, "come to live - with me in america. "i'm going to enslave you."

0r, "are you going to work for me?" i my house, nobody works. i want to say... _ so do you think the messages that we've seen from most women... absolutely! ..are fake? absolutely, yes. what about the bank transfers from desirre where she's depositing money into your account? the same! - the same thing. you're saying that's completely fake. no! - she asked... they never sent you money? what? no. i whatever she could use from me, she did. - but i didn't know. what she was doing. you didn't know she was sending you money? yes, i knew she was sending me money to take ubers. _ and i said yes. some of the transfers were £600. was she taking a 600—pound uber? yeah! — she told me that. i have seen some uber receipts that was like $3,000, - $4,000 per month. many of the women we spoke to say they are still experiencing post—traumatic stress. in a split second, choosing to hit like and follow had unimaginable consequences.

until recently, i still heard her in my head. i was thinking about giving up on life... whimpering: ..about suicide, because i invested my whole life in her. i had to do therapy. it's been almost 2 to 3 years that i've been doing therapy. and it's just a lot of work that i had to do to be able to talk about this. ah! - uh—uh.

how does it make you feel when you're hearing that former clients are traumatised ? i don't believe it. i have to say they are absolutely ridiculousl and that they need to run back to their parents. - why do you think they'd make something like that up? because they want media. because they want to be somebody. l they want to talk about it. it's not real. j it's not true. i been working with this i for nine years, and i have 14,000 clients, and i had many people that were veryjealous l about the money i was making. i charge a lot -

of money to do it. did you believe in the advice you were giving these women? oh. yeah. - i believe 1,000%. i will look in their eyes and i will go to sleep. i and i will wake up in| the morning thinking about the advice i give to them. i injail, still, i think about| the advice i give to them. i never, ever was wrong. even — i don't regret one single word i said, i don't regret. - it's like we are all afraid that whenever she gets out, she's actually going to do it again. throughout this interview, we've put very serious allegations to you — human trafficking, sexual exploitation, modern slavery. and in response, you've said you are proud of your advice. you've laughed. you've said that they're ridiculous. they're liars. do you take any accountability for any of these allegations? absolutely not. zer0~ _ and do you think you deserve to face any punishment orjustice?

absolutely not. what i want and i need isjustice~ _ what i want to do - with my life isjustice. i don't deserve to be here. i didn't deserve to be here, | not even one day in my life. 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. thank you very much. i didn't like her much.

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. the rise of social media has absolutely created almost like a portal or an avenue for human trafficking. it has developed just a huge communication network for human trafficking, in general. and it'sjust...so much easier to groom individuals and victims.

i feel better because i know she's injail. and my hopes is that the more i talk about it and more victims are going to come out and tell their stories, go to the police, go to the authorities so people see that this is a really criminal and serious case. it's notjust some instagram drama. as some people might have thought.

hello there. for part two of the weekend, it looks like low pressure will be affecting more north—western parts of the country, whereas further south, thanks to the ridge of high pressure, we should see a lot of dry and settled weather. quite a bit of cloud around on sunday, but some sunny spells here and there and conditions turning wetter and windier thanks to this area of low pressure

across northern ireland and western scotland as we go through the day. but much of central and eastern scotland, england and wales, quite a bit of cloud, like i mentioned, but also some sunny breaks here and there, and pleasantly warm — high teens to low 20s from north to south across the country. now, it'll be turning windier and wetter across the northwest of the uk as we head through sunday night, the rain really starting to pile into northern ireland, certainly across scotland, western scotland seeing most of that rain. some of the rain could be quite heavy, perhaps even thundery in a few places. but we'll be drawing up some warm and muggy air, so by monday morning, areas starting off with temperatures around the mid—teens. for monday, we have this area of low pressure almost in situ to the northwest of the uk, with this weather front bringing further heavy rain to the north and west. we're scooping up this very warm and humid air from the near continent. so a wet, windy day to come for northern and western scotland, some heavy rain at times, could see some disruption across western scotland. for parts of eastern scotland, certainly england and wales, it'll stay mostly dry, with some spells of sunshine and feeling warm and humid, mid to high 20s in celsius. warm and muggy across scotland.

tuesday night, we see that weather front crossing the country. some of the rain could be heavy, maybe thundery on it, even as it pushes towards eastern areas. it'll take its time to clear the southeast on tuesday, so rather cloudy, some spots of rain. behind it, the air turns fresher again with plenty of sunshine, a few showers for western scotland and northern ireland. temperatures 19 to 2a or 25 degrees, so those values coming back down again with lower humidity. as we move out to tuesday into wednesday, low pressure affects the northern half of the country again. stronger winds, outbreaks of rain, higher pressure towards the south. so again, it's going to be a blustery day on wednesday for scotland, maybe the far northwest of england, northern ireland, with a few showers. further south, tending to stay dry with variable cloud coming and going and some spells of sunshine. again, low to mid 20s in the south, high teens, low 20s in the north. and as we end the week, we hold on to that theme, with low pressure always bringing more cloud and rain at times to the north of the uk. higher pressure continues to bring more settled and warmer conditions further south.

live from washington, this is bbc news. the lebanese armed group hezbollah says it launched dozens of rockets towards israel. that's as the uk and us urge their citizens to leave lebanon because of fears of an all out war. bricks and bottles have been thrown at police as far—right rallies turned violent in england and northern ireland. hello, i'm carl nasman. hezbollah says it has fired dozens of rockets towards israel from southern lebanon. it is reported about 30 rockets were fired in communities in northern israel, one landed in the town of beit hillel. the army says most rockets were intercepted and others landed in open areas and there were no reports of casualties. tensions are very high in the region since wednesday's killing of the hamas chief ismail haniyeh.