New York (AFP) - A woman testified at the sex trafficking trial of Ghislaine Maxwell on Tuesday that she was just 14 years old when the British socialite began arranging for her to give massages to Jeffrey Epstein, which always ended in sexual activity.

The woman, identified only as "Carolyn," said she was usually paid $300 after the encounters with Epstein, often by Maxwell herself.

Maxwell, 59, is accused of grooming underage girls to be exploited by her long-time partner Epstein, a wealthy American financier who killed himself in jail two years ago while awaiting trial.

She has pleaded not guilty to six counts of enticing and transporting minors for sex.

Carolyn, voice trembling at times, told the jury in a Manhattan courtroom about her difficult upbringing and her struggles with drugs.

"My mom was an alcoholic and drug addict," she said.

Carolyn said she dropped out of school after the 7th grade, when she would have been about 13 years old, and was raped and molested by her grandfather when she was a child. 

Unlike two previous accusers who have taken the witness stand, she said she was introduced to Epstein not by Maxwell but by another girl, Virginia Roberts, whom she knew through her then-boyfriend.

Roberts, also known as Virginia Giuffre, is not expected to testify during Maxwell's trial but has gone public with her accusations of sexual abuse by Epstein.

"Virginia asked me if I wanted to make money," Carolyn said.

Roberts told her she could take her to meet a "wealthy friend," to whom Carolyn could provide massages, she said.

Carolyn said the first time she went to Epstein's residence in Palm Beach, Florida, she was accompanied by Roberts.

"We were greeted by Ms Maxwell," she said, and taken to a bathroom where there was a massage table. 

After Epstein brushed his teeth, he lay "face down on the massage table," Carolyn said. Epstein and Roberts had sex while Carolyn was in the room, she said.

'I became too old'

Carolyn said she returned to Epstein's Palm Beach home more than 100 times when she was between 14 and 18 years old. 

She said the visits would always begin with a massage, but "something sexual happened every single time."

Carolyn said she went to Epstein's every week, sometimes two or three times a week, and Maxwell played an active role.

"Maxwell would call and set up an appointment time... for like the first year," she said. 

"I got paid $300" for every visit, Carolyn said.

On one occasion, she said, Maxwell saw her naked, touched her breasts and told her she had a "great body."

Carolyn was asked by the prosecutor why she continued to go to Epstein's and what she did with the money.

"I was buying drugs," she said. "Marijuana, cocaine."

Carolyn said Epstein and Maxwell knew she was underage because she had told them she was 14 years old.

She said she stopped going when she was 18 "because I became too old."

Carolyn told the jury that she had received between $1 million to $3 million from the Epstein victims fund.

Maxwell lawyer Jeffrey Pagliuca, in his cross-examination, tried to poke holes in Carolyn's testimony, pointing out contradictions between statements she gave to the FBI in 2007 and in prior civil lawsuits compared with those from the most recent case, which earned her money from the Epstein fund.

He also noted that Maxwell had not figured prominently in her older testimony.

A woman identified by the pseudonym "Jane" testified last week that she was also 14 when Epstein started sexually abusing her. Jane said Maxwell was sometimes present and even participated.

A second woman identified as "Kate" took the witness stand on Monday and accused Maxwell of grooming her to engage in sexual activity with Epstein.

Maxwell, the daughter of the late British press baron Robert Maxwell, faces an effective life sentence if convicted.