A Utah judge has granted mutual protective orders to Taylor Frankie Paul, star of 'The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives,' and her ex-boyfriend Dakota Mortensen. The pair appeared in a Salt Lake City courtroom on Thursday to discuss the orders, which stem from domestic violence charges and allegations, according to the Salt Lake City Tribune. The couple's two-year-old son's custody was also under consideration.
Commissioner Russell Minas ruled that Paul and Mortensen must remain at least 100 feet apart. Although the orders are not criminal, arrests can still be made if either party violates the terms. 'This is a very toxic relationship,' Minas said. 'If I don’t order both of them to stay away from each other, there will be additional problems.'
Meanwhile, co-star Jessi Draper filed a statement alleging that Mortensen confided in her about his plan to leak videos of Paul to TMZ to humiliate her. Paul's attorney, Eric Swinyard, said the statement referenced a conversation Mortensen had with Draper, her now-estranged husband, and another man days before TMZ published a video showing Paul throwing chairs at Mortensen, one of which struck a child. The video led ABC to cancel Paul's season of 'The Bachelorette.'
Swinyard issued a statement after the hearing, saying: '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.'
According to Draper's statement, Mortensen was in her basement in March and upset that police were 'not doing anything' about reports he had made. He said he would 'take matters into his own hands to embarrass Taylor.' Swinyard told the Salt Lake City Tribune that Mortensen specifically named TMZ as the outlet he intended to leak the video to, and the video was released by TMZ a few days later.
