A judicial officer upheld a protective order on Tuesday against Utah influencer Taylor Frankie Paul, filed last month by her former boyfriend, Dakota Mortensen.
Third District Court Commissioner Russell Minas issued a short-term ruling requiring third-party supervision when Paul is granted visiting time with her 2-year-old son, Ever, whom she shares with Mortensen.
Both Mortensen and Paul appeared virtually while their attorneys gave arguments in person at the Salt Lake City courthouse.
The ruling only applies until April 30, the date of the next court hearing. The court has not ruled on the full case yet.
Mortensen gained full custody of Ever on March 20 after a court granted his temporary protective order against Paul, barring her from seeing their son until a decision was made on Tuesday.
Paul also filed a protective order before the hearing on Tuesday, and Minas said a full hearing on the merits of both orders will be heard at a later date.
In Utah, protective orders are the legal term commonly used in domestic violence cases as opposed to a “restraining order.”
What happened in court?
During the hearing on Tuesday, two specific instances were raised in deciding how to move forward with Paul’s parental access:
- The 2023 incident, in which Paul was charged with aggravated assault and two counts of domestic violence in the presence of a child. TMZ published a video from that incident last month that showed Paul throwing a metal barstool at Mortensen, which appears to strike her daughter, whom she shares with her ex-husband.
- The other incident discussed in court allegedly took place in February, where Paul apparently “choked Dakota and ripped his necklace off, and grabbed his throat and face,” per TMZ.
Paul’s legal counsel argued that Mortensen is “excellent at escalating and aggravating” Paul and that if he is out of the picture, Paul is no risk.
“Dakota pushes buttons. He’s excellent at that. As long as these folks stay apart — which I think is fully stipulated, they need to stay apart — I don’t think there’s any risk of them coming together again in the aftermath of this; then there is no risk to the child,” her attorney said. “No one’s going to come into my client’s house, whip out their phone and, you know, test her, push her buttons and refuse to leave, not to mention the other allegations she’s made about full-on domestic violence against her.”
Mortensen’s attorneys argued that Paul’s behavior, though directed at Mortensen, threatens the safety of their child, even claiming Paul uses Ever “as a pawn to start fights,” and “as a pawn to create incidents.”
Both Mortensen’s attorney and the attorney acting as guardian ad litem, representing Ever’s best interests, agreed that “The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star should be granted only supervised visitation.
For the next three weeks, Paul is allowed up to eight hours of visitation a week.
“I do think that there’s incidental, potentially incidental, child abuse that has occurred — domestic violence — in the presence of a child," Minas said. “I’m not making any determination today, one way or the other, about whether the respondent (Paul) in this case may also be a victim of an abusive partner as well ... that’s part of the allegations that are being made. There’s mutual allegations at this point.”
A full evidentiary hearing is scheduled for April 30, during which both parties will present evidence, the court will weigh competing allegations, and likely decide whether to issue longer-term protective orders and custody restrictions.