Judge Scolds Dakota Mortensen for Driving Son, 2, on Motorcycle During Custody Exchange with Taylor Frankie Paul
Judge Scolds Dakota Mortensen for Driving Son, 2, on Motorcycle During Custody Exchange with Taylor Frankie Paul
Luke Chinman, Sean MandellWed, July 8, 2026 at 10:21 PM UTC
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Dakota MortensenCredit: Utah Courts; Bethany Baker - Pool/Getty -
During a custody hearing with Taylor Frankie Paul, a judge scolded Dakota Mortensen for riding with his 2-year-old son Ever on a motorcycle
“We’re not going to do that anymore,” Minas said during the hearing
At the hearing, the judge expanded Paul’s parent time to extend her weekends with Ever through Monday morning
A judge scolded Dakota Mortensen for riding with his 2-year-old son Ever on a motorcycle.
During a custody hearing with Mortensen’s ex-girlfriend, Taylor Frankie Paul, on July 8, Commissioner Russell Minas offered a candid response when an attorney for Mortensen admitted that Mortensen had once driven a motorcycle during a custody exchange for Ever.
“We’re not going to do that anymore,” Minas said during the hearing.
An attorney for Mortensen did not immediately respond to PEOPLE.
At the hearing, the judge expanded Paul’s parent time to extend her weekends with Ever through Monday morning. The decision the judge’s previous custody arrangement, issued at a hearing on June 1, that gave Paul custody of Ever on alternating weekends and the same midweek day each week without overnights.
On July 8, the judge also ordered that Ever only be transported in “enclosed vehicles” with “age-appropriate” safety measures, and he reiterated an earlier order for neither Mortensen nor Paul to make disparaging remarks about the other on social media.
Following the hearing, a source close to Paul tells PEOPLE, “She’s happy to see the judge expand parent time with the limited information available and looks forward to continuing to make progress at the next hearing.”
Wednesday’s hearing is the latest in a messy and public custody battle between the Secret Lives of Mormon Wives star, 32, and her ex-boyfriend, 33, which began in February after multiple Utah police departments opened investigations into allegations that each made that the other acted violently during multiple altercations.
The pair’s fraught relationship has repeatedly made headlines in the months since, particularly for the public release of a 2023 video capturing a violent altercation between the two, after which ABC promptly called off Paul’s already-filmed season of The Bachelorette.
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As investigations were ongoing in March, Mortensen filed for a protective order against Paul, and she filed for a protective order of her own several weeks later. The orders were mutually granted for three years at a court appearance on April 30.
Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie Paul on the ‘The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Reunion Special’Credit: Disney/Fred Hayes
Separately, Paul’s ex-husband Tate, with whom she shares 8-year-old daughter Indy and 5-year-old son Ocean, filed for a restraining order against her on June 30, though a judge declined to grant the order the following day.
In June, a source also confirmed to PEOPLE that Paul had temporarily checked herself into a rehab facility, which she addressed in a video on her Instagram Stories in July, telling her followers, “I knew that I was in a spot to take a step back and be like, ‘OK, we need a reset.’ ”
Paul has accused Mortensen in court of stalking and, on one occasion, slamming her head into the dashboard of his truck. Mortensen has submitted photographs of physical injuries, including scratches, that he allegedly received during altercations with Paul.
The reality TV star was previously arrested in 2023 for an alleged domestic violence incident with Mortensen, where she was accused of throwing metal chairs at him while her then-5-year-old daughter, Indy, was in the room. Paul pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault and the other charges were dropped.
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Dakota Mortensen and Taylor Frankie PaulCredit: Disney/Fred Hayes
Though ABC called off the release of Paul’s season of The Bachelorette in March, network executives have since indicated that the season may air at some future point.
Questions also remain for the fifth season of Mormon Wives, which temporarily halted production in March amid news of police investigations into Paul and Mortensen. In April, PEOPLE confirmed that production was set to resume for the Hulu reality series, though in May, a source told PEOPLE that only new confessionals were being filmed for the forthcoming season.
If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.
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Source: “AOL Entertainment”
