Mormon Wives star limited to supervised visits with son amid abuse allegations
Hannah Schoenbaum And Andrew Dalton
Salt Lake City: Taylor Frankie Paul is one of the stars The Secret Lives of Mormon WomenA Utah court commissioner ruled Tuesday that the 2-year-old cannot spend unsupervised time with his 2-year-old son because of concerns about his erratic behavior during confrontations between him and his father.
Third District Court Commissioner Russell Minas said “I have concerns both ways” about allegations of a duel between Dakota Mortensen and Paul, who is also scheduled to appear in the show’s final season. Bachelorette before it was pulled days before release.
But Minas said, “Even if he was trying to provoke a reaction, the actions that took place are very disturbing.”
The hearing set the stage for an April 30 court battle when Minas will consider dueling petitions for protective orders between the two.
Mortensen, who shares his son Ever with his ex-girlfriend, asked the court to turn the short-term protection order for Paul into a long-term decision. Paul filed his own request for a protective order just before Tuesday’s hearing. Both attended remotely while their lawyers were in court.
“We’ll have a showdown on the 30th,” said Paul’s attorney, Eric Swinyard.
“I hope this won’t be a showdown,” Minas said. “I hope you can come to some conclusion.”
Lawyers for both parties and a court-appointed attorney on Ever’s behalf cited heated and sometimes violent interactions between the couple; some of these were recorded on video, revealing details of the arguments in the sealed protection order files.
Swinyard described what he called a “truck fight” in late February. In asking for protective measures, Mortensen said Paul threw a drink at him while they were arguing in a truck to avoid waking the children sleeping at Paul’s house. But Swinyard said Mortensen slammed Paul’s head on the dashboard and punched him in the leg, showing Minas photos of the bruises.
That fight and another that took place around the same time are being investigated by police in the Salt Lake City suburb of Draper City.
The parties generally agreed that Paul did not intentionally commit violence against his sons or his other two children from a previous relationship. The problem was his desire to attack Mortensen while there were children present.
Ever’s court-appointed attorney pointed to a May 2025 video that has not been made public. He said it showed Paul pushing Mortensen and yelling at him to get out of his house while holding his child.
“To me, that makes me very concerned about his ability to control himself and his volatility,” attorney Michael McDonald said. He said Paul “had a very difficult time with self-control and I think that put my client at risk.”
However, Paul’s lawyer said Mortensen created this situation on purpose.
“He keeps the child as a human shield, so to speak, and provokes my client and does not leave his house,” Swinyard said.
Mortensen’s attorney, Daniela Diaz, argued that Paul used their shared child to continue a cycle of abuse that kept Mortensen coming back.
“She is often invited back and her child is often used as a pawn, a pawn to start fights,” Diaz said.
Minas ordered that Paul, who has primary custody of Ever, receive eight hours of supervised visitation per week, emphasizing that this was a temporary arrangement until the next hearing.
In an unprecedented move, ABC announced last month that it was scrapping the show’s entire new season, which had already been shot. Bachelorettestarring Paul. The network blamed the cancellation on a then-newly leaked video of Paul punching, kicking and throwing a chair at Mortensen while his little girl watched and cried.
It was a central part of the struggle The Secret Lives of Mormon WomenThe first episode addressed this, including police body camera footage of Paul’s arrest.
Paul was charged with aggravated assault and other crimes, including domestic violence in front of the child. He pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor assault charge and the other charges were dismissed.
“We all know social media has made up its mind about my client,” Swinyard said. “The court, unlike social media, actually has to get this right. The evidence we believe when viewed as a whole on the 30th will show who the real abuser is, who is the actor who committed the real violence during the party’s relationship.”
Production was suspended for the fifth season as well The Secret Lives of Mormon WomenThe Hulu series that made Paul a reality star. She became known as an influencer in the #MomTok community, a group of women from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who share their lives on TikTok. The group and Paul’s confessions to polygamy helped spawn the hit reality show.
On Sunday, Paul announced that he was leaving what is commonly known as the Mormon church. He said on Instagram that he will always love and respect the Utah-based religious institution, but “it’s time to separate myself.”
Dalton reported from Los Angeles.
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