"I was scared. I was afraid something bad was going to happen to myself or my children."

That's how Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Rachel Rancilio said she felt after seeing Facebook posts this summer from a Chesterfield Township man who was criticizing her and the court system over a 2017 custody case involving his young son who died while in his mother's care.

One particular post from July, however, she said was "very personal."

"Dada back to digging & you best believe im gonna dig up all the skeletons in this court's closet." There is a photo of the man, Jonathan Vanderhagen, holding a shovel with the initials RR on the handle, with Families Of Corruption on his shirt, and the words: "The misuse of public power (by elected politician or appointed civil servant) for private gain." The Macomb County logo appears in the background.

"I thought he was going to kill me and bury me after he was done," Rancilio testified during a jury trial Tuesday for Vanderhagen in 41-B District Court in Clinton Township.

Vanderhagen, 35, was charged with misdemeanor malicious use of telecommunications services after Rancilio notified the sheriff's office in July of what she said were troubling Facebook posts and videos, some of which she felt were threatening.

More:Macomb dad blames judge for son's death. Now he's jailed for harassment

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Vanderhagen was initially released after posting $1,000 for bond with a no-contact condition. But on July 24, District Court Judge Sebastian Lucido raised the bond to $500,000 cash surety after ruling that Vanderhagen's continued Facebook posts violated his bond conditions.

Vanderhagen's attorney, Nicholas Somberg, said the subsequent posts were about the system and Vanderhagen's son, not Rancilio. On Tuesday, Lucido declined Somberg's request to reinstate the lower bond. Lucido also declined motions for a directed verdict of not guilty and declaring a mistrial.

Rancilio testified for a couple of hours Tuesday, continuing testimony that started Friday. She said friends saw the posts initially, became concerned for her safety and notified her.

Rancilio testified she reviewed the posts and some appeared to be of a father who was upset about the process and was angry.

But when Vanderhagen posted what appeared to be material from her personal Facebook pages, she said, she started having concerns and feeling nervous.

She said when the posts started to become more personal, such as ones pertaining to her niece and another involving her father, she became afraid that Vanderhagen was researching her and putting personal information online. She said it had gone beyond criticism — it was as if he was "almost stalking" her.

"It stops being about his son and starts being about my family and it made me scared," said Rancilio, who described herself as a single mother with two children. She said that she thought he was "going to do something bad."

She said she called the police because the posts were escalating and she wanted "it to stop."

"I did not know what his intentions were, which to me, were really scary," Rancilio testified.

She said that she notified her children's schools of the threats and her children were watched at recess. She told the jury that she felt she couldn't go safely from her car to the store. She testified that she installed an alarm at her home and has a security guard in her driveway at night.

She testified that since the case has received news coverage, she has received death threats, including calls and messages to her chambers at the courthouse. She said "some of this stuff is horrifying. ... The death threats I've gotten since July 7 are really intense."

She testified that recently there also was a YouTube video that talked about raping and killing her in front of her children. The sheriff's office is now trying to get the video, she said, to determine who posted it.

Rancilio testified that her home address has been published online in several places and someone was on her street circling, watching her son play basketball.

Although Vanderhagen's custody case was assigned to Rancilio in 2017, she said she never heard it, with all matters handled by the Friend of the Court and a referee there. Vanderhagen was seeking custody of his 1-year-old son, Killian, claiming the mother was unfit.

Killian died while in his mother's care in Genesee County in September 2017. No criminal charges were filed in his death.

Rancilio said that as a judge people may not like her rulings, but in her years as a judge and an attorney, she's never had to ask for a personal protection order. She has one against Vanderhagen, according to court records.

On Friday, Vanderhagen declined a plea deal to the lesser offense of disturbing the peace, a 93-day misdemeanor, and credit for time served in the jail.

At trial, the prosecution is arguing that things escalated beyond freedom of speech with Vanderhagen's posts and that harassment isn't protected speech.

Somberg said his client never said anything threatening, and that the case was about "power and privilege versus a grieving father with nothing."

The trial is to continue Thursday, when Vanderhagen is expected to testify. If convicted, he could be sentenced up to six months in jail and/or a $1,000 fine.

Contact Christina Hall: chall@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.