NORTHAMPTON - The upcoming rape trial involving the former director of the Pioneer Arts Center of Easthampton will include testimony from four people who claim to have had a sexual relationship with David Fried Oppenheim.

The four individuals were volunteers, interns, or students of PACE when Fried Oppenheim was founder/director of the center. Hampshire Superior Court Judge Mary-Lou Rup ruled Thursday that their testimony would be allowed as part of the trial, now expected to start Monday.

Fried Oppenheim faces five charges of statutory rape amid accusations that he engaged in a sexual relationship with a participant of that program beginning when that alleged victim was 14-years-old.

The ages of the four witnesses range from 16 to 18 years old when they allegedly had those relationships with Oppenheim.

A fifth witness' testimony will not be allowed, Rup said, because the case took place too long ago to be considered relevant.

Prosecutor Linda Pisano said that Fried Oppenheim's alleged conduct with the four witnesses does not rise to the level of criminal charges (the age of consent in Massachusetts is 16) but, instead, establishes a pattern of conduct that may reinforce the allegations of the alleged victim.

Similar to the accusations of the complainant, the alleged encounters between the four witnesses and Fried Oppenheim occurred at the PACE studios and at his home between 2004 and 2008, Pisano said.

Similar to claims made by the alleged victim, the witnesses are expected to testify that they were being instructed in an acting technique called "primitives" by Fried Oppenheim, during which students are encouraged to keep track of sensations they experience while being touched in a journal, Rup said.

Rup considered the statements from each of the witnesses separately and found them similar enough both to each other and to the accusations from the alleged victim to allow them.

Rup said that in all of the witnesses cases, Fried Oppenheim was in a mentoring or supervisory role to them and that they all gave similar statements about where the alleged activity occurred and how it began.

Multiple references were made by Rup to encounters between Fried Oppenheim and the witnesses in the lighting studio of the PACE building, and one witness is expected to testify that Fried Oppenheim suggested that one witness could pay for her acting lessons with sexual favors.

Motions were also made on Thursday by the prosecution whether to allow statements Fried Oppenheim allegedly made to witnesses regarding his behavior, including that he no longer had a sexual relationship with his wife.

Pisano said that statement helped establish a motive for Fried Oppenheim to engage in sexual relationships with others outside of his marriage.

Fried Oppenheim also allegedly told one witness that he would understand if they wished to press charges, that one witness was fortunate because the "primitives" technique he was teaching would make them a better actor, give them an advantage over other students and actors who weren't receiving that training, and that he told one witness that he couldn't promise that he would stop conducting his alleged behavior because he was addicted to sex, according to information read by Rup in court.

Rup said she would allow those statements to be included in testimony.

The trial, which prosecutors had originally hoped would be able to start with opening arguments Friday will not be able to start until at least Monday, because jury selection has not been completed yet.

As of Thursday afternoon, 12 jurors have been selected, four more are needed before the trial can begin to empanel a full jury of 12 with four alternates. Jury selection is not planned for Friday, because potential jurors are not summoned in Hampshire County on Fridays,Rup said.

Rup told prospective jurors that the trial will run from 9 a.m. to no later than 4:30 p.m. all next week, and could potentially spill over into Monday or Tuesday of the following week.

So far, approximately 150 potential jurors have been vetted so far with another 50 or 60 expected on Monday, according to court officers.

Rup said she was confident that the remaining four jurors would be seated on Monday.