A 22-year-old Kenmore man accused of making harassing phone calls and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend is facing charges in Island County Superior Court.

Christopher Richeson was charged in court on Dec. 21 with two counts of making telephone calls to harass, one felony and one gross misdemeanor.

The rural Oak Harbor woman reported to the Island County Sheriff’s Office Nov. 29 that she had saved 19 different messages Richeson had left on her voice mail in a single day.

Deputy Mark Plumberg was already in the process of trying to build a stalking case against Richeson. Both Richeson’s ex-girlfriend and her mother, who live together, had reported that they were afraid he would try to harm them. Richeson and the woman had a baby together, but she reported he had assaulted her when she was six months pregnant.

Richeson called the women’s home when Plumberg was there interviewing them, so Plumberg answered the phone. Plumberg told him that the women did not want him to contact them, but he got angry and said he could see his girlfriend if he wanted to. Richeson then called back and made arrangements to meet Plumberg to pick up some clothes he left at the women’s house, but Richeson never showed up.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Richeson left the 19 messages in a four-hour period. In the messages he goes back and forth from threatening her to saying he loves her and then repeatedly threatening to kill himself, court papers show.

In one message, Richeson allegedly states, “I love you a lot and I ain’t never gonna lose ya. … you better watch your back ’cause I’m gonna kill you and your family.”

Less than two hours and six messages later, he left another message saying that he will never forget her, he’s getting her name tattooed on his arm and he’s going to kill himself, the report states.

Richeson had been living in Oak Harbor but now lives in Kenmore with his mother, court papers show.

If convicted of the charges, Richeson could face one to three months in jail.