A licensed child therapist on Long Island has pleaded guilty to distributing highly explicit, disturbing material depicting the sexual abuse of infants and toddlers, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.
Renee “Rina” Hoberman, 36, of Plainview, New York, admitted in federal court to sharing child sexual exploitation content through the Kik messaging app. She worked as a therapist in Melville, where she treated minors up to 17 years old during the period of her offenses in 2024.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, Hoberman shared disturbing videos and images over several months that showed infants being restrained and abused by adult men. Authorities reported that some of the material involved children as young as six months old, who appeared to be in distress.
Investigators said Hoberman expressed personal gratification from the material and told federal agents that she had a preference for depictions involving children from infancy to age three and sought out violent content.
The Department of Justice stated that Hoberman participated in multiple online chat rooms focused on child abuse, where she not only distributed content but also engaged in graphic discussions. In these chats, she posed as a father of several children, describing fictional acts of abuse and inviting others to take part.
Although Hoberman did not have physical custody of any children, she used multiple online identities to share highly explicit files involving minors. She used aliases such as “badgurl854,” “AlwayzSpnkednkd,” “prettyprncss2388,” and “Daddywhospanks Naked,” according to reports.
Her arrest followed tips to Kik, which led investigators to uncover a hidden folder on her phone containing illegal material.
U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. condemned the crimes as “extremely vile and unthinkable,” saying the videos depicted “the most innocent members of our society being restrained and violently abused.”
Hoberman now faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.
