Abort or Die, Toronto Pastor Told Mother of His Kid
A Toronto Pastor who fathered a child with one of his parishioners reportedly told her that God would strike her down if she birthed his child.
As first reported by the Toronto Star, Martin Kofi Danso, the pastor of Miracle Arena For All Nations church in Toronto, filed a lawsuit last month against one of his followers said he was her baby’s daddy. Danso, who claims to be a “prophet,” describes himself as “an author, gospel artist, life coach, a worshipper and a businessman with TV and radio programs across Canada.”
In the lawsuit he filed against Chris-Ann Bartley, he claimed the two never had sex, requested a paternity test, and stated this was a scheme to get him “to pay child support for the child who was fathered by another man.” Going full Bill Clinton, Danso argued that he did not, in any way, have “sexual relations” with Bartley. After filing the suit he requested a publicity ban be placed on the lawsuit because it becoming public could hurt his career.
The Star reports that at first, a judge agreed with Danso writing that if “his evidence he was never intimate with the respondent is true, these losses would not be the natural consequences of his actions, but rather, an unfair and devastating injustice.” Well, they tested the child and it turned out that there is a 99.999996 percent chance that the boy, who is now six months old, is his. Danso—who again requested the paternity test—then changed his story saying that he was seduced by Bartley.
However, Ontario Superior Court Justice Fred Myers, who was ruling on the request of a publication ban, shot down the ban. Myers stated that Bartley could provide evidence that disputes Danso’s claim and proves they had a consensual affair from the fall of 2014 until May of last year—part of that evidence is the claim that he instructed her to abort her child.
“Ms Bartley’s evidence is that when she approached Mr Danso to tell him that she was pregnant, he asked her to have an abortion. When she declined, she claims that he told her that “the Lord showed him if I have the child I would die,” Myers wrote in his ruling, according to the Star.
Myers understandably was mystified why Danso would go forward with this lawsuit if he was fully aware that he had hooked up with Bartley.
It’s no surprise why Danso attempted to get a publication ban. By all accounts, it appears Danso’s gig as a prophet seems to be a lucrative one. The website for the church features a wide online shop selling CD sermons, hoodies, and something called prophetic anointing oil which costs $50 and Danso jets around the world for his sermons. I’m no expert here but doesn’t really seem that telling a woman you fathered a child with to abort it or god will strike her down are the actions a man of God would take.
Anyways, you would think that a prophet would have seen all this coming.
Sign up for the VICE Canada Newsletter to get the best of VICE Canada delivered to your inbox.
Follow Mack Lamoureux on Twitter .