Rothenberg Transferred to Maximum-Security Prison

Charles Rothenberg, the man who set fire to his son in a Buena Park motel room in 1983, has been relocated to a maximum-security prison near the Oregon border, according to the boy’s stepfather.

Richard Hafdahl, whose stepson David, now 14, suffered third-degree burns over 90% of his body in an act that shocked the nation, said Wednesday that corrections authorities notified him of Rothenberg’s transfer from San Quentin prison to Pelican Bay prison, a top-security facility.

Rothenberg, 50, was released on parole on Jan. 24 after serving six years and five months of a maximum 13-year sentence, but he was rearrested on Sept. 10 after he ducked out of an Oakland doughnut shop and eluded his round-the-clock parole agents.

The Board of Prison Terms subsequently revoked Rothenberg’s parole for eight months and ordered him returned to San Quentin. The state Department of Corrections ordered him moved to Pelican Bay nearly two weeks ago.

It was not immediately known why Rothenberg was transferred. State corrections officials could not be reached for comment Wednesday night.

In an interview that aired Wednesday on KABC-TV, Rothenberg claimed he was the victim of a setup by parole agents and called the revocation of his parole “twisted.”

“At the last moment, the day before (the arrest), I had a problem with my parole agent and he decided to change the rules without telling me,” Rothenberg said.

David, who was badly disfigured, has said that he fears his father will attempt to harm him when he is freed from prison.

In the television interview, Rothenberg said he has no intention of harming David.

“It would never happen. . . . I’ve never even thought of this,” he said. “Why would I? They haven’t done anything to me.”

Rothenberg, who was interviewed at San Quentin before his transfer, also complained of being friendless and lonely.

“It’s been a lot of pressure on me, I have to admit,” he said. “I have no friends. . . . It’s not been easy. It’s worse than I thought.”

Times staff writer Nancy Wride and Times wire services contributed to this report.