A child therapist from Melville, Renee Hoberman, has been accused of distributing explicit videos involving infants on social media and allegedly discussing “hands-on touching” of children in online chat rooms. Hoberman, 36, appeared in federal court in Central Islip on Wednesday and was ordered to be held without bail.

Following her arrest, authorities searched her home in Plainview and seized several electronic devices, including an iPhone. According to investigators, the iPhone contained multiple videos of child sexual abuse hidden in a private folder, and evidence showed that Hoberman shared explicit images of children through a Telegram account.

Neighbor Nick Randisi expressed shock, saying, “It’s upsetting. Half our block are kids and they’re all great kids, so hearing something like that—you never know what’s going on behind closed doors.”

Hoberman, who also uses the name Rina, had been employed as a part-time therapist at LifeStance Health in Melville since 2022, advertising her services to children up to age 17. She has since been terminated. A spokesperson for LifeStance Health stated, “We take this matter extremely seriously and have immediately terminated the provider. We are working with patients to transfer care to other providers. We have not received any information from authorities indicating that any patients were impacted by the alleged activity. We intend to cooperate fully with the investigation.”

Before joining LifeStance, Hoberman provided youth counseling at South Oaks Hospital in Amityville from 2016 to 2021. She also worked in elementary schools and mental health clinics before obtaining her license as a social worker, according to her biography on the LifeStance website.