He was handsome, charming and so rich... but my extreme age-gap romance went nightmarishly wrong when I learned what he was REALLY into behind closed doors

By JAMES REINL, US SENIOR REPORTER Published: 03:05, 17 July 2026 | Updated: 03:06, 17 July 2026 It began with diamond jewelry and trips to the Caribbean. But for Hacia Atherton, a ten-month romance with a wealthy, much older entrepreneur soon spiraled into something far darker, she claims. The 38-year-old Australian author and motivational speaker said she found herself sleeping with dozens of strangers, all to satisfy her boyfriend's insatiable appetites for sex and control, she alleges in a blockbuster lawsuit. In it, Atherton claims that Paul Vitale, 69, arranged a steady parade of Black men to visit his luxury apartment on Clearwater Beach, Florida, for unprotected encounters with her. Vitale, she said, offered her up to them as a form of racial 'reparations.' 'By giving his white partner to them and allowing them to do whatever they wanted to do to that white partner is a form of... reparations,' said Atherton, echoing her lawsuit. 'I'm the reparations.' Atherton filed a civil suit against Vitale last month, accusing her ex of sex trafficking, forced labor, emotional distress and a string of other charges. In an exclusive interview with the Daily Mail, she described just how dark the relationship became, claiming that the interracial encounters were only one part of a much larger pattern of alleged abuse.  Australian bestselling author Hacia Atherton, 38, who claimed she was seduced into an abusive BDSM relationship with a Florida-based businessman Paul Vitale, 69, is a retired FedEx pilot with a consulting firm and $1.1 million home on a desirable Florida beach She said she was coerced into wearing a collar, subjected to painful sex acts that left her bleeding and pressured to relive childhood sexual abuse for Vitale's gratification. Throughout it all, she claimed, Vitale threatened to use violence against her and cancel her US visa unless she agreed to his escalating sexual demands. 'He'd threaten to cancel my visa... threaten to shoot me and throw me off the balcony,' she said, echoing the claims in her lawsuit. Atherton's comments from our interview closely match the 71-page complaint she filed at a federal court in Florida on June 22.  She said she was initially drawn to the divorced former pilot and entrepreneur because of his wealth and his athletic build for a man his age. Looking back, she called him the 'perfect catfish,' describing how skillfully he presented himself on Millionaire Match, a dating app built for the ultrawealthy. 'He'd almost tear me down and then build me back up and make me feel so loved and seen and adored,' she said, echoing the claims in her lawsuit. 'And then once he got me back on the hook, he would do some of the worst things to me.' Vitale did not respond to requests for comment, and no attorney is currently listed for him in the court filings. Atherton, a former CEO and bestselling author of The Billion Dollar Blind$pot, met Vitale on the dating app in February last year. Their match quickly blossomed into a glamorous long-distance romance filled with designer gifts, Caribbean getaways and stays at his $1.1 million beachfront Florida condo overlooking the Gulf. Atherton said Vitale's constant attention earned her trust so completely that she confided in him about her history of childhood sexual abuse. Vitale, who ran his own consulting firm, showered her with clothes, shoes and jewelry the first time they met in person. But she alleges in the lawsuit that during that same visit, she was pushed to wear a collar and take part in a sexual encounter with Vitale and another man, setting a pattern that would only intensify. 'He would grab the collar in public and tell me, "This means I own you,"' she said. Atherton wearing a titanium collar she alleges Vitale demanded that she wear to show he 'owned' her Atherton says Vitale showered her with gifts, including designer shoes and flowers Vitale on a boat with two women. He met Atherton on the dating site Millionaire Match Vitale relaxes in a pool. He showered Atherton with clothes, shoes and jewelry when they met in person for the first time, the suit claims Despite the alarming start, the pair became a couple, and Vitale sponsored Atherton's work visa through his firm, Allstar Consulting Services, allowing her to relocate to the US, the lawsuit claims. It alleges that during trips together, including one to a luxury Caribbean resort, Vitale arranged sexual encounters with other couples through dating and swinging apps. She said in the interview that she was initially curious about group sex but came to find the encounters emotionally hollow and purely physical. Atherton described a titanium collar as central to the relationship's power dynamic, one she said she was made to wear almost constantly. 'One of my medical practitioners wanted to take the collar off... and he refused,' she said.  At times, she claimed in the interview and the lawsuit, the collar was attached to a rope, effectively leashing her inside Vitale's home. 'Once you're behind the closed doors, he wants you to wear heels and look like a whore while you're cooking him dinner,' she said, again echoing her lawsuit. After her visa was approved in August last year, Atherton alleged that Vitale's controlling behavior grew significantly worse. 'The escalation really started once he got control of my visa,' she said.  She claims in her lawsuit that he routinely got her drunk or high using alcohol, marijuana, nitrous oxide and other substances, often incorporating intoxication into their sexual encounters. On one occasion, while she was intoxicated, the lawsuit alleges Vitale used two large sex toys on her until she bled. The suit further claims Vitale pressured Atherton to charge other men for sex and suggested she open an OnlyFans account to work as a paid performer. She was expected, the lawsuit states, to bring the retired FedEx pilot to climax at least twice a day. Atherton is the author of The Billion Dollar Blind$pot Vitale arranged a US visa for Atherton through his company, Allstar Consulting Services, it is claimed Atherton alleges in her lawsuit that Vitale used her disclosed history of abuse against her, pressuring her while intoxicated to describe it in graphic detail while he watched. She said he separately voiced disturbing fantasies involving members of her own family. She described the pattern as something beyond an ordinary kink. 'It is not a dom thing... it is a very deranged thing,' she said. Atherton alleges in the lawsuit that the single most damaging incident came when she was made to touch herself while Vitale watched child sexual abuse material he had allegedly accessed on the dark web. She claims in the lawsuit that Vitale pushed her toward a 24-hour arrangement with strangers at a motel while she was intoxicated, and floated the idea of her doing sex work at a Nevada brothel. 'He wanted to keep me drunk and high for 24 hours and see how many men I could take,' she said. 'He started talking about how much money he could make from me.'  Atherton said she ended the relationship and moved out in December, insisting Vitale had manipulated her from the very start of their romance. She admitted she had been eager to make the relationship work. 'No matter how much success you have in your life, and how much money or how much anything, deep true love is the most priceless thing,' she said. 'You start to convince yourself that accepting your partner for who they are is what love is.' She said she could not account for Vitale's behavior and alleged wild mood swings.  'He doesn't have a consistent behavioral pattern,' she said. 'He'd send me an "I love you" email... then days later try to humiliate me.' After she moved out, Atherton alleges in her lawsuit that Vitale launched a campaign of online harassment against her. Vitale has responded to Atherton on social media, accusing her of infidelity and writing publicly about what he called the 'evil in her heart,' according to the lawsuit. In one Instagram post from March cited in the complaint, Vitale wrote about the cost of dating Atherton for a year, contrasting it sarcastically with the value of life without her. He also wrote about moving on from what he described as her lies and deception, the post stated. The suit further alleges that Vitale sent explicit footage of Atherton to her ex-husband as a deliberate act of revenge following the split. After Atherton ended the relationship and moved out in December, she claims Vitale launched a vicious campaign of online harassment against her  Atherton had moved in to Vitale's $1.1 million beachfront apartment in Clearwater, Florida Atherton, who has since relocated to St Petersburg, Florida, said the relationship left her with lasting psychological scars, including PTSD, depression, disrupted sleep and anxiety attacks. Her lawsuit brings a dozen separate legal counts against Vitale, including sex trafficking, forced labor, emotional distress, cyber-harassment, stalking, assault, battery, false imprisonment and defamation. It was filed in federal court in Florida on June 22 under the Trafficking Victims Protection Act. None of the allegations have been tested or proven in court, and Vitale has not publicly responded to the lawsuit. Atherton is seeking a jury trial along with compensatory and punitive damages. Her attorney, Matt Sarelson, said he expects the case to reach trial by the end of 2027.