Hunterdon County man must pay support for child not his

TRENTON, N.J. - Paternity doesn't count when it comes to a Hunterdon County man's bid to lower child support payments for a child that's not his. An appeals court upheld a lower court which denied the man's request in 2006 after he said he discovered he was not the father of the 10-year-old girl.

The appeals panel found the judge put the best interest of the child first. It's not clear whether the man would appeal to the state Supreme Court. The man is identified in court papers as W.S.Y. Jr. to protect the child's identity. The girl was born in 1997 and the man and his ex-wife divorced in 1999.

The man raised the issue of paternity in 2006 after he claimed his ex in 2003 started making statements that he wasn't the father.

The man claims a DNA test showed he wasn't.