Judge criticizes Taylor Frankie Paul, Dakota Mortensen in protective order ruling

A Utah judge criticized Taylor Frankie Paul and Dakota Mortensen for the “toxicity” of their dynamic while ordering mutual protective orders.

“This has been a very toxic relationship,” commissioner Russell Minas said at Thursday’s hearing between the realty TV personalities, per Us Weekly. “It’s beyond the pale in a lot of ways, the toxicity.” 

Of their son Ever, 2, the judge noted that the exes need to come together as co-parents.

“What I’ve seen from the evidence even post last hearing, there seems to be a continuing attraction that they have for each other,” he noted. “You guys have to figure out a lot here. You have to figure out how to function as coparents.”

He also labeled the dynamic a “dysfunction,” amid the former couple’s ongoing custody battle — which currently has Mortensen, 33, maintaining physical custody and Paul, 31, allowed supervised visitation.

“I’m going to leave the current order in place,” the judge said, per the outlet. “I need to think a little bit more about this lifting of supervision. I have mixed feelings about it.”

The judge expressed hope that Mortensen and Paul aren’t “people who just thrive on the drama and the conflict” and noted that they needed to put their “child first and shield the child from this conflict.”

He reminded the “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star and her ex that they’re “linked together for the remainder of your lives,” through their son. “You’re modeling how you deal with conflict to a 2-year-old,” he said.

The pair was ordered to stay 100 feet from each other in the ruling, which granted both parties the protective orders they previously sought.

The judge noted that he believed there had “been violence that’s occurred both ways between these parties” while saying he felt Paul’s “conduct” was “more reactive.”

“Dakota knows what to do, that to get under her skin, so to speak, and she reacts,” the judge claimed of the dynamic — in which a seemingly calm Mortensen, at one point, recorded his ex during a volatile 2023 exchange.

“I think [Mortensen is] just more deliberative,” the judge explained, describing Mortensen’s conduct as “subtle.”

The judge held back on ruling on Paul’s current supervision during visitation with their son, noting that if it continued, he was “wary that Dakota may actually try to use that as a way to manipulate and control her.”

The reality star — who also shares daughter Indy, 8, and son Ocean, 5, with ex-husband Tate Paul — temporarily lost custody of Ever earlier this month amid mutual allegations of abuse.

Mortensen did not immediately respond to Page Six’s request for comment on Thursday’s hearing.

A rep for Paul told Page Six, “Today’s hearing was a significant step forward as the Court entered protective orders requiring that Taylor’s ex-partner stays far away from her.”

“Taylor was incredibly candid with the Court that she is not perfect and owned her faults, which is in direct contrast to how the other party presented their argument, despite evidence and input from law enforcement that showed otherwise.”

“Taylor feels solidarity with the many survivors who have endured similar hardships behind closed doors and shared only part of their stories, and she remains grateful for the outpouring of support she continues to receive,” the statement continued.

The statement concluded, “She looks forward to continuing to cooperate with the Court to make progress in the custody case.”

The duo’s appearance in court was the first time they’ve been seen in public together since their legal drama began in March, when news emerged that the pair was facing multiple domestic violence investigations over alleged physical altercations.

The Salt Lake County District Attorney’s office declined to file new charges against Paul earlier in April due to what they called an “evidentiary issue” in the Draper and West Jordan Police Department investigations, according to a press release.

They also cited the fact that some of the incidents brought forward “occurred more than three years ago” and are therefore “barred by the statute of limitations.”

The release noted that the allegations against Paul “do not rise to the level of criminal offenses.”

Amid the allegations, in March, TMZ released video of Paul and Mortensen’s 2023 encounter — during which Paul was seen apparently throwing barstools while daughter Indy sat on a nearby couch.

She was arrested over the alleged 2023 encounter, and pleaded guilty in abeyance to aggravated assault.

ABC canceled Paul’s impending season of “The Bachelorette” following the release of the tape.

Mortensen filed for a restraining order against Paul — and submitted photos of alleged injuries sustained during the incidents — and was granted temporary custody of Ever until today’s hearing. Paul was granted supervised visitation with Ever.

News subsequently broke on March 25 that a third domestic violence investigation by the West Jordan Police Department — in addition to the two investigations being pursued by Draper Police — was in the works.

Paul petitioned for a restraining order against Mortensen this month, claiming that he’d stalked her, slammed her head into the dashboard of his truck, and traumatized her by tattooing her initials to the inside of his lip and sending her a photo.

Prior to the ruling at Thursday’s hearing, Mortensen’s lawyer claimed he was “afraid of the force that would happen against him” and called him a “domestic violence victim.”

Paul’s lawyer, however, asserted Mortensen “wants to literally destroy” the reality star.

“He was to subject her and her family to a new round of torment,” Paul’s lawyer told the courtroom. “Yes, there are career implications to it. There’s massive embarrassment associated with that.”