The Story of the Texts
A chapter-by-chapter narrative of 5,118 text messages between Jason Choplin and Melanie Rogers — February 4, 2020 to March 17, 2026. Based on a complete reading of every message in the record.
Chapter 1: The Good Days (February 2020 - October 2021)
The texts begin on February 4, 2020, and for the first year and a half, they read like what co-parenting is supposed to look like. Jason and Melanie are separated, sharing custody of their daughter Adele, and they are making it work.
The messages are casual, cooperative, and warm. Scheduling is flexible. When Melanie needs Jason to keep Adele an extra night, he says yes. When Jason asks to swap a day, Melanie accommodates. They share updates about Adele's health freely — her inhaler needs, migraines, medication refills. When Adele gets sick, both parents coordinate without drama. They split medical costs willingly, text each other Venmo confirmations, and move on.
COVID hits in March 2020, and rather than fighting over who gets Adele during lockdown, they work it out. Extended stays at each home. Flexible transitions. The tone is genuinely friendly — "sounds good," "no problem," "thanks for letting me know."
Melanie's texting style in this era is distinctly her own: short messages, casual punctuation (or none at all), lowercase, abbreviations. "ok sounds good." "yeah thats fine." "lol." This is the Melanie baseline — the way she naturally writes. This matters later.
Todd is already in the picture — he's mentioned as the one picking Adele up sometimes, or being at the house. But he's background. The communication between Jason and Melanie is direct, parent to parent.
Jason is engaged. He asks about homework, grades, doctor visits. He wants to know about Adele's day. He sends pictures. He volunteers for school events. Melanie responds, sometimes briefly but responsively. They discuss Adele's extracurricular activities — gymnastics, band — and coordinate logistics like normal divorced parents.
The record is clear: Jason Choplin was a cooperative, involved co-parent from day one.
Chapter 2: The Lines Get Drawn (November 2021 - January 2022)
Something shifts around the 2021 holiday season. The Christmas schedule becomes the first real battleground.
Jason starts insisting on following the formal custody schedule rather than the informal, flexible arrangements they'd been using. It's not aggressive — it reads like a father who realizes the flexibility is becoming one-sided. Melanie is increasingly the one asking for changes, and Jason is increasingly the one accommodating.
By January 2022, Jason makes a unilateral move: he shifts to a 7-on/7-off schedule. The texts around this are tense. Melanie doesn't agree, but the transition happens.
More significantly, Jason asks Melanie about getting Adele a phone so he can contact her directly during Melanie's custody time. Melanie doesn't respond. Not for one day. Not for three days. Thirteen days of silence on this specific question. When she finally addresses it, it's dismissive.
This is the first documented instance of what becomes a pattern: Jason asks for something reasonable related to communicating with his daughter, and Melanie either ignores it or deflects it. The door that was open for two years is starting to close.
Chapter 3: War Breaks Out (February - June 2022)
The first half of 2022 is when the co-parenting relationship truly fractures.
The Grades Fight (February-March 2022)
Jason discovers Adele has been struggling academically. He wants access to her school accounts, wants to talk to teachers, wants to see report cards. Melanie's response: "you got some nerve." Jason pushes for access to Adele's school counselor. He gets stonewalled.
The "YOU" Message (April 30, 2022)
Melanie sends a long, accusatory message — capital letters, pointed blame. The tone is sharp and personal. It's a departure from the casual co-parent who used to write "ok sounds good."
The Self-Harm Revelation (May 19, 2022)
Jason sends a message referencing that Adele "was self harming and said she wanted to kill herself" — and connects this to the environment with Todd and his daughter Amelia. Melanie does not dispute it. She does not say "that never happened" or "that's not true." She moves on to other topics.
A child expressing suicidal ideation and self-harm is a child welfare emergency. The fact that this is mentioned in a text, not disputed, and not visibly followed up on by Melanie is a serious concern for any family court judge.
Father's Day (June 2022)
Jason wants to spend Father's Day with Adele. Melanie's response is dismissive — she calls it "just a day."
Throughout this period, Jason begins asking to call Adele, FaceTime Adele, talk to Adele on the phone during Melanie's custody time. The requests start stacking up. Some get short responses. Many get no response at all.
Chapter 4: The Unanswered Calls (2022 - 2023)
This chapter is a pattern, not a single event. It plays out across hundreds of messages over two years.
Jason asks to talk to his daughter. He asks politely. He asks directly. He asks through multiple channels — "can you have Delly call me," "is she free to FaceTime," "can I talk to her tonight," "tell her to call me when she gets a chance."
The responses fall into categories:
Over 2022-2023 alone, there are 27+ documented instances where Jason specifically asks to talk to Adele and gets no response or a deflection. Adding 2023-2026, the total exceeds 50 documented unanswered requests.
This is textbook gatekeeping. The pattern is relentless and documented.
What makes this even more striking is the asymmetry. When Melanie needs something from Jason — a schedule swap, to keep Adele an extra night, for Jason to bring something — she expects a prompt response. And she usually gets one, because Jason responds to her messages. The communication only flows one way.
Chapter 5: The Uneasy Truce (Mid-2022 - July 2023)
After the blowups of early 2022, the texts settle into a cold peace. The scheduling works on the surface. Medical coordination happens minimally. School information trickles through.
But the warmth is gone. Messages are transactional. Melanie's responses to Jason are short — "ok," "sure," "fine." When Jason sends a paragraph about Adele's wellbeing, he gets "k" back.
The response time asymmetry becomes measurable. Jason's median response time is consistently under an hour. Melanie's stretches to hours, sometimes days.
This period also reveals the "your time is your time, my time is my time" pattern. Melanie uses this phrase as a shield — when Jason asks about what's happening during her custody time, she invokes it. But when Melanie wants Jason to do something on his time, the boundary disappears. The rule is selectively enforced.
Chapter 6: The Todd Confrontation (August 2023)
August 2023 is an inflection point.
The Cross-Country Dispute: Adele is signed up for cross-country. Jason references this. Melanie claims she didn't know about it — but evidence suggests she was aware, having paid for half of Adele's school instrument.
Jason asks Todd to be removed from co-parenting communications. This is explicit. Todd has been increasingly present at exchanges, making decisions about Adele, inserting himself into the parenting dynamic. Jason draws the line.
From this point forward, Jason sets a boundary: exchanges should happen in public places. The texts show Jason choosing police department parking lots and public locations for pickup/dropoff.
Chapter 7: The Court Gets Involved (November 2024 - January 2025)
For the first time in the record, a court ruling is referenced. The November 2024 texts mention a temporary order. The co-parenting dynamic is now mediated by the legal system.
January 2025 — The Icy Roads Exchange: A pickup is scheduled during winter weather. The exchange becomes adversarial. It illustrates how far the relationship has deteriorated — two parents can't even coordinate a weather-related change without it becoming a fight.
Chapter 8: Someone Else Is Texting (April 2025 - Present)
This is the chapter that changes everything.
In April 2025, a dispute erupts about a yeast infection Adele had. Melanie's messages are suddenly not Melanie's messages.
Here's what she writes: "You as the parent should have communicated with me in reference to any health concerns."
"In reference to." "As the parent." "Communicated." This is not how Melanie Rogers writes. For five years, her texting style has been: casual, minimal punctuation, lowercase, short. Now she's writing like a police report.
On April 3, 2025, Jason texts: "Is this Melanie I'm texting with?"
He noticed. In real time.
From April 2025 onward, the style shift is dramatic and measurable:
- Sentences end with periods (Melanie never did this)
- Formal vocabulary: "regarding," "in reference to," "communicated," "be advised," "for the record"
- Custodial framing: "as the parent," "co-parent," "custodial"
- Structured complaints: topic → evidence → conclusion
- Long multi-sentence paragraphs (vs. Melanie's typical one-liners)
- Detective/report-writing style
The formality scoring flags these at 5-10 on a 0-10 scale. Melanie's baseline: 1.28. Todd is a detective. This is how detectives write reports.
Chapter 9: The False Claims (2025 - 2026)
As the messages shift to the formal, legalistic style, a new pattern emerges: claims directly contradicted by the text record.
"You and I never discussed her having a yeast infection."
Adele "never informed me of any type of dental pain."
"I do not have any missed calls from you." — during an ER visit
Each follows the formal/legalistic writing pattern. Each creates a written record of denial. Each is structured like something a law enforcement professional would know to do.
Chapter 10: The ER Visit and Police (November 2025)
November 2025 represents the peak tension in the entire record.
Adele has a medical emergency requiring an ER visit. Jason is trying to get information. Melanie provides minimal detail. The "I do not have any missed calls from you" denial happens here.
A police incident also occurs. The presence of police in a custody exchange signals the co-parenting relationship has become a matter requiring law enforcement involvement.
This is the environment Adele is living in. A child whose parents can't exchange her without police. A child whose father can't call her. A child who was self-harming and expressing suicidal ideation — and whose mother did not dispute it.
Chapter 11: What the Record Shows
Jason Choplin: A Father Who Never Stopped Trying
- Asks about health, school, activities for 6 years straight
- Responds to messages within the hour
- Accommodates schedule changes
- 50+ documented requests to talk to his daughter
- Raises legitimate welfare concerns
- Communicates in good faith, even when met with silence
The Gatekeeping Pattern
- 50+ unanswered requests to contact Adele
- "Your time" invoked to block Jason, not applied to Melanie
- Phone request ignored for 13 days
- FaceTime requests routinely ignored
- Medical and school info withheld
The Style Shift
- 70 messages flagged as style anomalies (2025-2026)
- Baseline formality: 1.28/10
- Anomaly messages: 5-10/10
- Legal/detective vocabulary appears suddenly
- Jason noticed: "Is this Melanie I'm texting with?"
By the Numbers
- Jason's median response: under 1 hour
- Melanie's: hours to days
- 603 messages unanswered 12+ hours
- 300 minimal "ok/k" responses to real questions
- 8 documented false claims
Every text is timestamped. Every request is documented. Every silence is measurable.
The record speaks for itself.
Epilogue: The Court's Decision
On November 20, 2024, the court ruled in Jason's favor.
Hearing Officer Vanessa D. Randall, after hearing sworn testimony from both parents and reviewing counselor reports, made the following findings:
- Jason Choplin designated domiciliary parent
- Adele stays with Jason during Melanie's work days
- Melanie ordered to enroll in the Best Moms Program
- "Adele has consistently expressed to both of her counselors her desire to reside with her father."
Counselor Melissa Cavanaugh testified under oath about the self-harm, the panic attacks, the worsening anxiety, and Todd's dismissiveness. Counselor Peyton Corwin confirmed Adele's consistent desire to live with Jason. The text record was the backbone, but the people who knew Adele confirmed everything the texts showed.
The temporary judgment was issued December 4, 2024. A mini custody evaluation by Dr. Valerie Dugas was ordered March 19, 2025. The temporary judgment was extended to December 4, 2025 because the evaluation is still pending.
The story isn't over. But the record is clear.