'This is not the daughter I know,' says birth mom of LI child therapist facing child porn charge

The biological mother of a Long Island child therapist accused of distributing child pornography told Newsday on Friday she was "stunned" to hear of the federal criminal charge and is "praying the charges 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 at a Brooklyn federal detention center after U.S. Magistrate Judge Arlene Lindsay remanded her into custody following the arraignment, calling her "a danger to the community."

Hoberman, a licensed social worker, allegedly distributed child pornography including videos of "infants 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 Pennsylvania home, Hoberman’s birth mom, Brenda Pun, 59, said she was disturbed to learn of the allegat ions. "This is not the daughter I know," she said. 

 "It would be difficult to stand by her if it’s true she did those things," Pun said, stressing, "I want pure straight-up evidence."

Pun acknowledged she has a distant relationship with her daughter, whom she said the Hoberman family adopted and raised on Long Island. When her daughter was just days old, dangerous circumstances in Pun's life forced her to put 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 mom, according to Pun.

"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 is good with them," the Pennsylvania woman said.

Efforts to reach Hoberman's adoptive parents were unsuccessful.

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

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

"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 added.

The company also said it will cooperate with investigators.

Hoberman also has provided youth counseling services to children at an Amityville hospital, according to court papers. On her LinkedIn page, the defendant mentions working 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 couldn't say where.

According to prosecutors, a cellphone containing a folder with videos showing children 2 years or younger being raped by adult males was seized from Hoberman during her arrest at her home Wednesday.

During questioning while in federal custody Wednesday, Hoberman allegedly told investigators she is "sexually aroused and gratified by children, with a preference for children from infancy to age three," according to the criminal complaint.

"There are no allegations that Ms. Hoberman ever abused a child," Hoberman's lawyer, 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 her rights respected," he added.