Who is Moses Dingle in Emmerdale and who is the father of Charity’s son?

EMMERDALE is known for its bed hopping and partner swapping.

So it was no surprise that the identity of Moses' Dingle's father was a mystery for a long time. Here we take a look at who the child's dad REALLY is.

Born on June 11, 2015, Moses - who is played by child star Arthur Cockroft - is a member of the close-knitted Dingle clan and his backstory is one for the ages.

The schoolboy is the son of Woolpack landlady Charity Dingle, and was born while she was in prison for perverting the course of justice.

At the time of his birth, she received a visit from her daughter Debbie Dingle and she'd hoped that having a baby would reduce her prison sentence.

When this wasn't the case, Charity signed the parental rights over to Debbie and the baby moved into Mulberry Cottage with her, her own children Jack and Sarah and her then-fiancé Pete Barton.

Charity's older son Noah, on the other hand, lived with Debbie's father Cain and his wife Moira.

All in a name

Soon after, the Dingle patriarch Zak (who sadly died in 2024) brought out the family Bible as it's tradition for a new Dingle to have a biblical name.

Chas Dingle flicked to a random page, landing on the name Moses, which Debbie agreed with.

Moses Dingle was christened in St Mary's Church a few days after his birth with Chas and Sam becoming his godparents.

Mystery dad

But the identity of Moses' father remained a secret until the tot was rushed to hospital and diagnosed with pyloric stenosis.

Due to the severity of Moses' condition, doctors recommended an operation and urged Debbie to contact Charity in prison.

Debbie obliged and encouraged Charity to get in touch with Moses' father as he had a right to know his son.

In a shocking twist, Charity phoned Ross Barton and revealed he had a son but he admitted he was not interested in Moses.

To make matters worse, Ross was having an affair with Charity's daughter Debbie who, as mentioned above, was engaged to his brother.

Cain Dingle eventually took matters in his own hands and told Debbie the truth, prompting her to put an end to their affair and their plans to run away together.

Ross attended Pete's stag do and finally admitted he was Moses' father to a full Woolpack pub.

Ross leaves the village

Fast-forward to 2018, Ross was brutally attacked and doused with acid by drug dealer Simon McManus in a devastating misunderstanding involving Debbie who wanted revenge on Joe Tate.

The scarring left Ross feeling very self-conscious about his appearance and he spent all of his time in Dale View.

However, he soon embarked on a relationship with Rebecca White - a perfect match.

The pair helped each other, bonding over both their traumatic experiences as she suffered a severe head trauma after a car accident.

With their relationship on the right track, Ross and Rebecca made the decision to leave the Dales when he received a job offer in Liverpool.

While Ross had initially planned to bring Moses with him, he was stopped by Charity after her other son Ryan Stocks told her all about his cocaine use that had led him to collapse in front of the young boy.

Charity eventually took pity on Ross and they agreed to leave him with regular access to Moses.

Ross, Rebecca and her own son Sebastian left for a fresh start in Liverpool in early November, 2018, leaving Moses behind in the village.

Ross' return

On October 28, 2024, Ross made an explosive comeback to the Dales.

He returned during an unlicensed boxing match, where he was revealed as Billy Fletcher’s opponent.

In a twist, Moses' stepdad Mack took Moses to the boxing match not knowing that Ross was taking part.

Emmerdale airs weeknights from 7.30pm on ITV.