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A child therapist on Long Island was arrested on "heinous and disturbing" child pornography charges after she distributed videos that contained victims as young as just 6 months old, federal prosecutors said.
Renee Hobermann, a licensed social worker from Massapequa, used social media apps to upload digital videos showing one or multiple minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct, according to the criminal complaint and Breon Peace, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.
Some videos shared between June and October showed infants between 6 months and a year old crying and screaming as they were physically restrained and raped by a man, prosecutors said. As recently as Oct. 16, the 36-year-old Hobermann, who was also known as Rina, had allegedly uploaded explicit content and partook in multiple online chats about child sexual molestation.
In those chats, Hobermann would pose as a man and state that "he" would punish his children by "spanking" them while naked, and as other children watched. Hobermann also invited another user to visit and spank the children as well, according to the charges.
Hobermann also described sexually assaulting the children and their friends, then sent two videos containing the abusive material, claiming the children seen in the video were "his" own, Peace said.
“As alleged, Hoberman distributed heinous and disturbing child pornography, including videos showing infants being restrained and raped. Additionally, while posing as a man, Hoberman, who is a therapist serving children, claimed to have produced child pornography and offered others the opportunity to sexually abuse children,” said Peace.
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Hobermann was arrested Wednesday.
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"Renee Hoberman worked in a trusted position as a therapist with children, making the allegations against her for the possession and distribution of incredibly dark and depraved child sexual abuse materials even more disturbing," said Homeland Security Investigations New York Special Agent in Charge William Walker.
Hobermann worked as a therapist at LifeStance Health in Melville, which serves children up to 17 years old. In a statement, LifeStance said Hobermann worked part-time at the center and that she was fired after they received word of her arrest.
"We take this matter extremely seriously and have immediately terminated the provider and are working with patients to transfer care to other providers. We have not received any information from authorities indicating that any patients have been impacted by the alleged activity," the statement read, adding that the company will "cooperate fully" with investigators.
Attorney information for Hobermann was not immediately available.
The investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office is ongoing. Anyone with information about sexual exploitation by the defendant is asked to contact HSI at HSI’s tip line: 1-877-4-HSI-TIP or via HSI’s website.
