The alleged victim of a case of suspected intimidation testified at a preliminary hearing Monday — on behalf of the accused.

Brandi Sue Antonelli made it clear repeatedly that her boyfriend, 35-year-old Justin M. Castilyn of Butler, never threatened or coerced her so she would not testify against him at two related court hearings.

”I’m not scared of him,” Antonelli, 33, told her attorney, Armand Cingolani. “He did not intimidate me.”

She said she even laughed when Butler County Chief Detective Charles Barger, before filing charges, showed up at her door to question her about Castilyn’s alleged effort to impede her testimony.

Despite Antonelli’s vigorous defense, District Judge Pete Shaffer ordered Castilyn to stand trial on a felony charge of intimidation of a witness or victim.

Barger testified that he filed the case last month after listening to recorded jailhouse phone calls between Castilyn and Antonelli.

Castilyn has been in the county prison since Jan. 7 when Butler police arrested him following a domestic dispute at the couple’s city apartment where he allegedly choked Antonelli.

Police said Antonelli suffered minor injuries.

Castilyn was charged with simple assault and a preliminary hearing in the case was set for Jan. 12.

A day after the domestic incident, Antonelli got a temporary protection from abuse order against Castilyn. A hearing for a permanent protective order was set for Jan. 15.

Under the temporary PFA, Castilyn was prohibited from any contact with Antonelli.

However, Barger learned that Castilyn was making phone calls to his girlfriend. The detective said that he decided to listen to the taped calls.

All outgoing calls made from the prison are recorded, except those to inmates’ attorneys, according to prison policy. Inmates are alerted that their calls are being recorded.

“There were numerous calls where he continually asked her multiple times not to appear at the preliminary hearing or the PFA hearing,” Barger testified.

In all, he said, Castilyn between Jan. 9 and 13 made 17 phone calls during which he implored Antonelli not to testify at one or both of the hearings.

Barger noted that Antonelli ultimately was a no-show at both hearings.

Castilyn ended up waiving his right to the hearing on the charges stemming from the domestic. The temporary PFA was dismissed.

During cross-examination, Barger conceded that Castilyn never threatened to hurt or kill Antonelli in any of the phone calls, which averaged 15 to 20 minutes each.

Cingolani, while questioning Barger, suggested that the calls between the two were mundane and uninteresting.

“Weren’t they 20 minutes of boring chit-chat?” he asked

“Yes,” Barger replied.

The detective also acknowledged that in speaking to Antonelli as part of his investigation, she never claimed Castilyn intimidated her, nor did she ask for help from law enforcement after obtaining the temporary PFA.

While it is unusual for the defense to put on evidence at a preliminary hearing, Cingolani called Antonelli to testify.

She said she did not appear at Castilyn’s Jan. 12 preliminary hearing because she did not want to press charges.

“I was not afraid he’d hurt me if I showed up,” she said. “I did not feel intimidated by his phone calls.”

Cingolani asked her why she didn’t show up for her PFA hearing.

“I don’t need a permanent PFA,” she answered.

Antonelli also testified that Barger filed the intimidation case against Castilyn without her knowledge and without her request.

Barger’s cross-examination lasted less than a minute.

“Were there any phone calls that Justin asked you not to attend?” the detective questioned

Yes,” she said.

That exchange led to one final question of Antonelli from Cingolani: “Did he ask you not to attend or threaten you not to attend?”

“He asked me,” she replied.

Shaffer dismissed Cingolani’s call for the case to be thrown out and held the matter for court.

“I’m going to let a jury decide if asking is intimidating or threatening is intimating,” Shaffer said, “or both.”

Castilyn remains jailed on $25,000 bail.