Taylor Frankie Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen appeared in court virtually to discuss visitation two weeks after he was granted temporary custody of their son.
A judge seemingly sided with Mortensen during the Tuesday, April 7, hearing, ruling that Paul, 31, be granted only supervised time with Ever, 2, for at least six hours per week until their protective hearing on April 30. The judge will reevaluate Paul’s parenting time restrictions at that time.
The judge ruled the supervised visits should be facilitated by a neutral third party, though other options were discussed in court if both parties could agree to the person or people present during Taylor’s visits with Ever and that the person or people would agree to being subjected to the jurisdiction of the court.
During the hearing, the judge cited concerns about Paul reacting to Mortensen in anger, but not being able to stop and assess the situation when Ever was present. The judge also noted that he doesn’t believe this is a case of intentional child abuse, but worried of potential unintentional child abuse.
Earlier on Tuesday, Us Weekly confirmed that Paul filed a temporary protective order against Mortensen.
Paul was able to tell her side of the story after Mortensen sought out the protective order against his ex on March 19, which was granted and noted, “No parent time is allowed until the scheduled hearing.”
A recent update in their court battle obtained by Us earlier this month showed that Mortensen turned over a flash drive and several exhibits from the February 2023 case, in which Paul pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault. Court docs show that she provided proof of completing court-ordered parenting courses as part of her probation.
The case has since been back in headlines after TMZ published a 2023 video showing the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star throwing chairs at Mortensen in front of her daughter, Indy. (In addition to Ever, Paul shares Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, with her ex-husband, Tate Paul.) After the video sent shockwaves, Paul’s season of The Bachelorette was canceled by ABC just days before its debut while SLOMW season 5’s filming was put on pause.
Paul’s rep told TMZ at the time that the unearthed video “conveniently omits context,” claiming it was merely a “reprehensible attempt [by Mortensen] to distract from his own behavior.”
Dakota, for his part, said in a separate statement that his priority was the well-being of their son. “As anyone who has seen the video will understand, this is a deeply upsetting situation,” he told Us. “I am, unfortunately, used to these baseless claims about me and our relationship, which I categorically deny. I am focusing on our son and his safety, and hope that Taylor will do the same.”
On March 16, the Draper City Police Department confirmed to Us that the exes are involved in an additional and ongoing “domestic assault investigation” stemming from two alleged incidents that happened this past February.
Since then, the investigation has been passed from the Draper Police Department to the district attorney’s office. “The district attorney’s office will determine if any charges will be filed,” Chief Rich Ferguson of the Draper Police Department said in a press release. “If the district attorney’s office declines to file charges, the city prosecutor will evaluate any further action available based on that determination.”
Meanwhile, Paul has been open about how the entire situation has impacted her.
The reality star said the “last 40 days felt like hell on earth” in a message shared over the Easter holiday, along with supportive texts sent to her and Bible passages about keeping faith in difficult times.
Looking ahead, there will be a protective order hearing on April 30 to determine if Mortensen’s temporary restraining order should be extended, where the exes will again appear remotely and counsel will appear in person.
