POLYFAMILY Sean Hartless ex-wives, children, allegations details

TLC’s new reality series Polyfamily features two polyamorous couples living together and raising a family. The show’s concept has sparked some controversy online, but that pales in comparison to the multiple controversies surrounding cast member Sean Hartless.

SEAN HARTLESS EX-WIVES & CHILDREN

The Polyfamily cast introductions seem to gloss over Sean Hartless’s past. Not mentioned is the fact that Sean was married multiple times prior to marrying Taya, and that he has multiple children from those marriages.

According to court documents, Sean got married in March of 1999. A little more than a year later, the couple welcomed a daughter in May of 2000.

It appears the relationship fell apart rather quickly, as Sean’s ex filed for dissolution in September of 2001.

Sean’s ex-wife was awarded custody of their daughter. She later filed for multiple modifications to the custody arrangement — more on that below.

Sean Hartless remarried in May of 2003. The couple share two children together — a boy and a girl. The children are the same age, suggesting they are twins.

Court filings do not list the children’s exact birth dates. Both were 13 years old in May 2016 and 14 the following month, indicating they were likely born in May or early June of 2002.

This marriage lasted much longer than Sean’s previous one. His second wife filed for divorce in May 2016 — almost exactly 13 years after they married.

In total, Sean Hartless had at least three biological children before marrying Taya.

A Reddit account allegedly belonging to Sean’s biological son replied to several posts about the show and Sean. The comments were NOT favorable.

SEAN HARTLESS ALLEGATIONS

In December 2003, Sean’s (it is assumed) first ex-wife filed a motion to temporarily discontinue his parenting time regarding their daughter.

At the time, Sean had visitation for five hours on Thursday evenings and every other weekend.

The motion was filed due to the child allegedly being in “immediate danger.”

“In September of 2003, child started crying and throwing tantrums before every weekend visitation with her father,” the motion states.

The document also describes troubling physical symptoms the daughter reportedly exhibited after visits with Sean.

The motion alleges that Sean was leaving his daughter unsupervised with his stepchildren upstairs. DHS and police later informed Sean’s ex-wife that one of the stepchildren “had been referred to the ‘Sexually Acting Out Committee.’”

Sean, his ex-wife, and a psychologist met in September and created a safety plan that included never leaving the daughter unsupervised with the stepchildren.

From the motion:

Child’s behavior is progressively getting worse. She starts crying and screaming 2 to 3 days before a weekend parenting time with Father. She specifically complains about having to go upstairs in Father’s house. She states that she is scared to go upstairs in Father’s house. When I pick her up from a weekend at Father’s house, Child is mad at me for making her go to Father’s house because she had to go upstairs.

A judge signed an order in December of 2003 allowing Sean supervised visits with his daughter at a visitation center.

filed motions for temporary custody modifications,

In May of 2016, both of Sean Hartless’s ex-wives filed motions for temporary custody modifications because they believed their children were in “immediate danger.”

Sean’s first ex-wife provided the following reasoning in her motion:

I was contacted by DHS informing me that Sean is being investigated for inappropriate sexual interactions with a minor child online. DHA told me that my current order says Sean is allowed visits alone with [daughter]. This is what I need to do to keep her safe. Sean is able to see her alone anywhere, just not at his home currently. I feel supervised visits are necessary.

The motion included a letter from a representative at the Oregon Department of Human Services:

Sean’s second ex-wife provided a similar reason in her motion:

Today I was contacted by DHS and a detective…They informed me they had not met with the kids at school since an allegation had been made against their father Sean Hartless. Due to the investigation they were worried about the kids’ safety.

Sean left the house on November 25, 2015 and last saw the kids on January 2, 2016. He won’t tell me where he lives and I’m concerned about the kids’ safety while with Sean. He has recently been contacting me to see the kids and I don’t feel safe having the kids with him.

Judges signed off on both of the wives’ motions in May of 2016. The resulting temporary orders allowed Sean only supervised visits with his children.

It’s worth noting that Sean’s second ex-wife filed for divorce on the same day as her emergency custody motion.

There are online reports that no criminal charges were pursued related to the online allegations. A search found no criminal court cases for Sean Hartless in New Mexico or Oregon. (There are Oregon court entries for parking tickets, civil matters, and a minor alcohol violation when Sean was 19.)

Polyfamily airs Tuesday nights at 10/9c on TLC and streams on Max and Discovery+.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com