I think the character that plays the judge in this film says it best, I have never seen such a hideous crime or so innocent a victim. Bernadette Peters is basically known as a singer, but she does an awesome acting job in this real life horror story. What kind of an animal would pour gasoline over his six year old child and burn him over 90% of his body. John Glover said that this was the only time in his career that he was really traumatized playing a character. This movie doesn't really show why Rothenberg was so evil, but it does an excellent job of showing the horrible suffering he caused this child. Be warned, this movie is so grim that at time its almost unwatchable. An infuriating footnote, Rothenberg sentenced his son to a lifetime of disfigurement and pain, but he was released from jail after serving only six years. They have since changed the laws he was sentenced under, today he would have gotten life without parole.