Celestin said she was repeatedly hit by Theodore and Paulin -- they used shoes, brooms, even a mortar, which is used for grinding food. But she said Paulin's husband intervened several times to stop the beatings.

Celestin also said Telasco struck her with a shoe after accusing the then-teenager of scratching her car while washing it.

Although she did not use the word on the witness stand, Celestin was talking about the life of a restavek, which means ''staying with'' in Creole. In reality, it refers to a child forced to work in slave-like conditions.

The trial, which is expected to last through next week, comes at a time when the Bush administration has placed strong emphasis on human-trafficking enforcement. The South Florida prosecution is based on the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, which was enacted in 2000.

U.S. District Judge Jose A. Gonzalez Jr. is presiding over the trial in Fort Lauderdale because another judge who had the case in Miami had a scheduling conflict.

On Wednesday, Celestin, who received no formal schooling, spoke about her fear of being isolated and beaten -- not knowing who to trust to seek freedom. She became involved with two teen boys, but they could not help her. Finally, a friend of her mother's was sympathetic to her situation and arranged her escape in June 2005.

Celestin wrote two farewell letters for Maude Paulin and her daughter Erika, leaving them on their beds. She got help from one of Telasco's children to write the letters in English.

In her letter to Maude, she said, ''I was treated like a slave.'' In the other letter to Erika, she expressed thanks ''for standing up for me'' when the mother beat her.