Ghislaine Maxwell's former assistant describes how the socialite and Jeffrey Epstein's romance appeared to putter out

• Ghislaine Maxwell's former executive assistant testified at her child-sex-trafficking trial on Thursday.

• Cimberly Espinosa said she worked for Maxwell at Jeffrey Epstein's financial management firm from 1996-2002.

• Espinosa said Maxwell and Epstein seemed like a couple when she first started working with them, but believes they broke up around 2000.

A former executive assistant to Ghislaine Maxwell testified Thursday that she saw Maxwell's relationship with convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein appear to fray in the time that they worked together.

Prosecutors have accused Maxwell of sex-trafficking girls with Epstein, sexually abusing them herself, and lying about her actions in a deposition. The allegations in the indictment focus on activity between 1997 and 2004, and concern misconduct against four accusers, who were as young as 14 at the time.

Maxwell has pleaded not guilty to the charges against her and denied all accusations of wrongdoing.

In opening statements, the prosecution painted Maxwell and Epstein as the top figures in a "pyramid scheme of abuse," working together to bring vulnerable teenage girls into their orbit to take part in Epstein's depraved sexual fantasies. Prosecutors also submitted as evidence a trove of photos showing Epstein and Maxwell kissing and hugging, and even a few of Maxwell giving Epstein a foot massage. It's unclear when the photos were taken.

Maxwell's defense team has tried to downplay her relationship with Epstein by honing in on their professional ties, and arguing that Maxwell has only been targeted because prosecutors were never able to bring Epstein himself to justice. Epstein killed himself while awaiting trial on similar charges in 2019.

On Thursday, Maxwell's defense team started presenting their side of the case, calling as their first witness Cimberly Espinosa. Espinosa worked for six years as Maxwell's executive assistant at Epstein's financial management company, J. Epstein & Company.

Espinosa said she was hired in 1996 and stayed with the company until 2002 — a period which covers six of the eight years of alleged misconduct in the indictment. Espinosa herself was sued by Epstein accuser Jennifer Araoz in 2019; the complaint accused Espinosa of scheduling visits with Epstein where sexual contact occurred.

Espinosa testified that she largely worked under Maxwell, who she described as the manager of Epstein's various properties. When she first joined the company, Espinosa said, she got the impression that Maxwell and Epstein were romantically involved from their "flirty" interactions, saying they "behaved like a couple."

But by the final two years of her employment, Espinosa said the two appeared to have broken up. She said Maxwell and Epstein stopped arriving and leaving the office at the same time. Maxwell also started dating other people and eventually got a new boyfriend, she said.

"They just kind of went their separate ways," Espinosa testified.

Espinosa added that Maxwell's attendance in the office declined over the years. While Espinosa started off working with Maxwell in the office nearly every day of the week, she said Maxwell started coming in for just a few days at a time, and then not at all towards the end of Espinosa's time at Epstein's firm.

Espinosa's description of Maxwell's relationship echoes what Maxwell's brother, Ian Maxwell, described in an interview with Insider's Jacob Shamsian in October. Ian Maxwell told Insider that his sister had an intimate relationship with Epstein for only a couple of years before their partnership transition into a professional one; he also highlighted that they always maintained separate residences.

"The idea that she would be some kind of a Madame — it really is grotesque," Ian Maxwell told Insider. "Jeffrey Epstein, it seems to me, led an immensely compartmentalized life."

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