A North York church leader and self-proclaimed prophet is appealing a DNA test that proved he impregnated a member of his “miracle” ministry, arguing the paternity test was not legitimate and insisting he is not the father of the woman’s baby.

Kofi Danso went to court to ask for the test last summer, falsely claiming in a sworn affidavit that he could not by the father because he never had an intimate relationship with congregant Chris-Ann Bartley.

Danso swore Bartley’s claims were “designed in bad faith to make me pay child support for the child who was fathered by another man.”

The DNA test later established he is 99.999996% likely to be the baby boy’s father.

In August, Superior Court Justice Fred Myers accepted the results of the test as bona fide, noted that Bartley had provided evidence of her intimate relationship with Danso from the fall of 2014 until the end of May 2017, and called out the church leader for lying in the affidavit.

Danso, who later claimed he had been “seduced by Ms. Bartley,” is asking Divisional Court to overturn Myers’ ruling. In a factum filed with the court by his lawyer, Joel Etienne, Danso alleges the judge made a “serious and palpable error” by accepting the paternity test was legitimate, given the “undisputed fact” that “DNA tests do not 100 per cent confirm the paternity.”

There was “no proper evidence before the court in respect to the reliability and quality of the testing at the lab in general” or of the DNA testing in these proceedings, says the factum. “Therefore, if the court allowed for a trial or questioning, the issues relating to the validity of the DNA test results would have been examined by way of expert testimony and cross-examination.”

Danso also argues Myers erred in removing a temporary publication ban on the case by not considering “the negative implications this would result for the child” and by not giving weight to Danso’s “very substantial commercial interests.”

Etienne declined to comment on behalf of his client. A court date set for September has been moved to February.

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In her response to Danso’s appeal, Bartley argues he has offered “no support for its allegations that the DNA paternity test was invalid” and has produced “no evidence to suggest malpractice, negligence, or results tampering.”

The test was done at “an accredited and certified institution” to which both the parties consented, lawyer Ryan O’Connor says in a factum, arguing that Danso’s appeal is intended to obtain a “tactical” advantage in the ongoing family law litigation.

“My client is a single mother of limited means and unnecessary proceedings place more financial pressure on her than Mr. Danso,” O’Connor, who is representing Bartley on the appeal, wrote in an email responding to questions by the Star.

In the separate and ongoing child support case, a judge recently appointed an expert to assess Danso’s income, citing that he had made conflicting statements about his finances while failing to provide “any cogent explanation or documents to support his answers and ... outright refused to answer reasonable and relevant questions.”

Danso is married and has six children with his wife, JoAnne Danso, who is also a reverend at Miracle Arena for All Nations, which was incorporated in 2014 and operates as a registered charity exempt from income tax.

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In detailed filings to the Canada Revenue Agency, which charities are required to provide annually, Miracle Arena states it provides worship service along with praying and teaching the gospel, mission and related activities, marriage and funeral services, along with counselling.

Danso gives regular, raucous sermons — broadcast live online — to crowds at the church’s Milvan location in an industrial area in northwest North York.

An online biography says the preacher is known “for his unique prophetic gift, healing ministry and apostolic leadership.”