Reply #17: Here's a small reference to the child and his mother....

[Judi Lynn]

The reference begins in the second paragraph:
http://www.maesakharov.com/childAbuse.htm

There's a movie released in 1988, based on a book by the mother, Marie Rothenberg: David

http://www.rotteneggs.com/r/show/se/399006.html

David

1988 - USA - Docudrama

Type: Features
Rating: NR
Running Time: 96 minutes
Starring: Bernadette Peters
Directed by: John Erman

PLOT DESCRIPTION
In this above-average made-for-television drama, Bernadette Peters stars as a mother facing the greatest challenge of her life. Based a true story, Matthew Lawrence stars as David Rothenberg, a six year-old who was viciously set on fire by his jealous father. Severely burned and disfigured, David courageously clung to life despite the odds against him. Determined to see her son through the ordeal, the film shows how his mother Marie (Peters) tirelessly worked to help nurse him back to life. ~ Bernadette McCallion, All Movie Guide
(snip)

http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=124830

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Book info.:

David
ROTHENBERG, MARIE and, WHITE, MEL

Carmel, NY: Guideposts, 1985. Guideposts edition published by special arrangement with Fleming H. Revell Company.192 pages, 4 plates, cloth, dj, very good. From the publisher: When David Rothenberg, a second-grader from Brooklyn, NY, visited Disneyland in December 1983, he was given a red-carpet welcome normally reserved for kings and presidents. Thousands lined the streets of the Magic Kingdom to cheer the child who had won a place in their hearts. Here is the story of the little boy whose courageous fight for life captured the attention of nearly every television and radio station, newspaper and magazine in the nation. Late in February 1983, for reasons still unclear, David's father kidnapped his son and took him to California, promising him a Disney vacation. There on March 3, 183, his father emptied a container of kerosene throughout the motel room where David was sleeping, ignited it, and drove away. Moments later, the room burst into flames, engulfing David and inflicting third-degree burns over ninety percent of his body. Although he was given a less than five percent chance of living, David beat the odds. David's strong will to survive and the help of policemen and firemen, doctors and nurses, celebrities and ordinary folk turned madness into miracle. In David, Marie Rothenberg tells her son's touching story from a mother's own perspective.. ISBN: 0800712269. Hard Cover. Very Good/Very Good. DAVID ROTHENBERG HANDICAPPED CHILDREN BIOGRAPHY.

Offered by Military History Bookshop (Maine, United States)

http://illiad.biblio.com/browse_books/title/d/3691.html

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Looks like the book can be purchased from Amazon now, used, from $.77, to $3.95.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/offer-listing/0800712269//002-7134096-5587246?condition=used

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A tv report on David was offered by a truly obnoxious Rupert Murdoch reporter, Steve Dunleavy. There's a quick look at it around 4/5ths down the page here:

The story is that of the Comeback Kid, the tragic tale of David Rothenberg, a 13-year-old boy set aflame by his father when he was 6. The story is years old but has never been told Dunleavy-style: close-ups of the boy’s face, still mangled and masked after more than fifty operations. Tearful interview with the aggrieved mother. Tough jailhouse confrontation with the father.

First, Dunleavy builds sympathy for the boy. “If guts were made of gold, David would be a billionaire,” Dunleavy says.

Then the Fox trademark: the inevitable reenactment, in shadowy black and white, suffused with creepy music. Dunleavy splashes onto the screen, in double-breasted pinstripes, touched up with bright-red tie and snazzy pocket square.

A Dunleavy report has no patience for the detached tone of the observer. He jumps right in as the voice of the masses. The father says he wanted to give David everything. “Dunleavy: “Charles Rothenberg gave his son everything, all right - everything that pain, suffering and a life sentence in a body mutilated beyond description could provide.”

Now the two men face off in the prison visiting room. Rothenberg is to be freed soon and Dunleavy is incredulous. “Truth is,” he tells the father, “people out there right now think you are the biggest son of a bitch on two legs.”

Rothenberg bursts into tears, squeaking pathetically. The TV picture fades to a slow-motion close-up of David’s scarred face.
(snip)

http://www.tabloidbaby.com/Book/Companion/king.htm

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It would appear that as they got more focused on trying to get the child healthier, they may have stepped far out of the public eye. I'm not coming up with much, I'm afraid, but I'm not an ace researcher, either. There may be a lot in there I'm just not seeing. I hope his two angel supporters, Michael Jordan and David Robinson, have contacted him from time to time as he has tried to find a way back to life. I think the power of their great strength and accomplishments due to hard, hard work would be an inspiration to him, hopefully, in meeting his new trials.

More recent photo of the monstrosity who hurt his son so savagely: