Burn Victim Seeks Closure, Visits Father

David Rothenberg met his jailed father Friday for the first time since the man doused him with kerosene and set him ablaze 13 years ago in a Buena Park motel, authorities said.

Alameda County Sheriff’s Sgt. Jim Knudsen said the meeting lasted about 35 minutes at the North County Jail, where Charles Rothenberg is awaiting trial in a separate case on charges that he shot a man in the head.

Rothenberg and his son were separated by protective glass during the visit, which was not monitored by sheriff’s deputies. Authorities said the meeting was arranged after visiting hours to allow them privacy.

David Rothenberg and his father requested permission for a visit from Sheriff Charles Plummer.

“It was a regular visit like everybody else does,” Knudsen said. “Sheriff Plummer wanted to give [David Rothenberg] a chance for some closure.”

The son flew to Oakland from Los Angeles with a KABC-TV reporter, Knudsen said. Sheriff’s officials gave no other details about the meeting.

Last month, David Rothenberg told the TV magazine “Extra” that he wanted to meet his father so that he could get on with his life.

“I really want to confront him,” he said. “I need to close a chapter in my life. If I don’t, I feel it’s holding me back.”

In 1983, Charles Rothenberg was sentenced to 13 years in state prison for setting his son on fire at the motel. Authorities said he had tried to kill the then-6-year-old boy because he feared being permanently separated from him by his ex-wife.

The boy was left with burns over 90% of his body and severe disfigurement. He had his fingers amputated to the first joint.

Charles Rothenberg settled in Oakland in 1990 after serving less than seven years of a 13-year sentence.

He was arrested Jan. 25 in the shooting of a 47-year-old man and was charged with attempted murder and for being a former convict in possession of a gun.