Dakota Mortensen’s legal team is pushing back hard against allegations made by Taylor Frankie Paul as their custody battle continues to escalate.
During a recent virtual court appearance on April 7, the former couple addressed visitation rights for their son, Ever — and tensions were clearly high on both sides.
Following the hearing, Dakota’s attorney, Joel Kittrell, issued a strong statement defending his client to Us Weekly.
“Today’s hearing was used by the respondent to assassinate Dakota’s character as a dad, whose only concern is for the welfare of his son, Ever,” he said. “We look forward to the 30th to tell the true story.”
The court ultimately ruled that Taylor will have supervised visitation with Ever for eight hours per week until a follow-up hearing scheduled for April 30. Those visits must be monitored by a neutral third party approved by both sides and subject to court jurisdiction.
This comes after Dakota was previously granted temporary custody, along with a temporary protective order against Taylor in March. Taylor has since filed her own temporary protection order against Dakota.
In her filing, Taylor made a number of serious claims about Dakota’s behavior leading up to her now-canceled season of The Bachelorette.
She alleged he became “increasingly possessive” and cited a specific incident that she found alarming.
“Considering his increasingly possessive and erratic behavior, and considering the fact that we were not in a relationship, this was extremely alarming,” she wrote. “My initials are now permanently tattooed on the body of a man who has been abusive toward and possessive of me.” (Source: People)
As both sides continue to present very different versions of events, the case remains ongoing, with the next hearing expected to further determine custody arrangements and parenting restrictions.
With serious allegations, protective orders filed on both sides, and a child at the center of it all, this situation is far from resolved — and the upcoming court date could be a major turning point.