Utah child services files petition alleging abuse as reality star shares photo of son

Utah's Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS) filed a petition on July 13 requesting a juvenile court to declare that Taylor Frankie Paul's three children are "abused, neglected or dependent" and to appoint a guardian ad litem. The filing comes amid an ongoing custody dispute with the children’s fathers, Dakota Mortensen and Tate Paul.

On July 18, Paul posted an Instagram Story showing her son Ever, 2, playing in a sandbox, captioning the image "Saturday morning with my boy." The post appeared less than a week after the DCFS petition was made public.

The agency’s petition alleges that Paul left a DCFS home visit abruptly and that her therapist expressed concerns about her engagement in treatment. It also claims she has not taken responsibility for a prior domestic-violence incident involving Mortensen.

Paul’s attorney told PEOPLE that she is not deterred by the case moving to juvenile court and remains focused on normalizing custody arrangements and personal health.

"Taylor remains fully committed to doing whatever is necessary to reach that goal and will not be swayed from it," the statement read.

Mortensen’s and Paul’s former husband Tate’s attorney, Chad Shattuck, said the parents are concerned that Paul’s response downplays the seriousness of the DCFS filing and urged better coordination among family-court, law-enforcement and child-welfare agencies.

The custody dispute, which began in February after domestic-violence investigations were opened, has involved mutual protective orders and a recent hearing that expanded Paul’s parenting time to include alternating weekends and a mid-week day.