‘This is not the daughter I know,’ says biological mother of child therapist LI charged with child pornography

The biological mother of a Long Island child therapist accused of distributing child pornography told Newsday on Friday that she was “stunned” when she learned of the federal criminal complaint and “prays that the allegations are not true.”

Renee Hoberman, 36, of Plainview, pleaded not guilty to a single count of distributing child pornography during a proceeding in federal court in Central Islip on Wednesday. The defendant, who also goes by “Rina,” remains in a federal detention center in Brooklyn after U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay took her into custody following her arraignment, calling her “a danger to the community.”

Hoberman, a licensed social worker, is said to have spread child pornography, including videos of “babies being restrained and raped,” U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace previously said in a statement.

Reached by phone at her home in Pennsylvania, Hoberman’s biological mother, Brenda Pun, 59, said she was disturbed when she learned of the accusation. ions. “This is not the daughter I know,” she said.

“It would be difficult to support her if it is true that she did these things,” Pun said, emphasizing: “I want pure and clear evidence.”

Pun acknowledged that she has a distant relationship with her daughter, who she said was adopted by the Hoberman family and raised on Long Island. When her daughter was just a few days old, dangerous circumstances in Pun’s life forced her to give her up for adoption in 1988, she said Friday.

“I wanted her to be safe,” Pun added.

The two reconnected in 2010 through a private investigator Hoberman hired to find her birth mother, Pun said.

“It was fantastic,” she recalled of the reunion. She said Hoberman quickly bonded with her two brothers, one now 22, and another who is 41 and has Down syndrome.

“She’s good with them,” the Pennsylvania woman said.

Attempts to reach Hoberman’s adoptive parents were unsuccessful.

Hoberman has been employed as a therapist for LifeStance Health in Melville since 2022 and works with children up to age 17, according to the indictment.

Hoberman was “immediately” fired from her part-time job following news of her arrest, a LifeStance spokesperson said in a statement.

“We are taking this matter very seriously and have immediately terminated the provider and are working with patients to transition care to other providers. We have not received any information from authorities indicating that patients have been affected by the alleged activity,” the statement said.

The company also said it will cooperate with investigators.

Hoberman also provided youth counseling services to children at an Amityville hospital, according to court documents. On her LinkedIn page, the defendant states that she works at South Oaks Hospital.

A spokeswoman for Northwell Health, which operates South Oaks Hospital in Amityville, said Friday that Hoberman last worked for the health care system in 2021, but she could not say where.

According to prosecutors, Hoberman had a cellphone seized at her home during her arrest on Wednesday containing a folder of videos showing children aged two or younger being raped by adult men.

During questioning while in federal custody Wednesday, Hoberman allegedly told investigators that she was “sexually aroused and gratified by children, with a preference for children from infancy through the age of three years,” according to the indictment.

“There are no allegations that Ms. Hoberman ever abused a child,” Hoberman’s attorney, Evan Sugar of the Federal Defenders of New York, said in an email Friday.

“She is a woman with no criminal record who deserves to have her day in court and have her rights respected,” he added.