Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
A former employee of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been sentenced to six months in prison and five years of supervised release after pleading guilty to attempting to coerce a beneficiary into crossing state lines for prostitution.
Dae Sung Kim, 36, from Auburn, Massachusetts, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman. In February 2025, Kim admitted guilt to one count of attempting to induce a person to travel in interstate commerce for the purpose of engaging in prostitution.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley stated: “Public servants are entrusted to assist people, not exploit them. This was a brazen abuse of power by a federal employee who used his position and access to sensitive information to prey on a vulnerable woman who had just lost her job. This kind of predatory behavior has no place in public service, or anywhere else. This case represents yet another example of my office’s commitment to reduce the demand for commercial exploitation. Mr. Kim attempted to purchase access to the victim’s body and used her vulnerability and his privilege to do so.”
Michelle Anderson, Acting Inspector General at the Social Security Administration, commented: “This was a shocking abuse of power by someone entrusted to serve the public. The defendant, while employed as an SSA claims specialist, attempted to exploit a vulnerable, disabled mother seeking to apply for reinstatement of disability benefits after losing her job. This predatory behavior is intolerable.”
The incident began in March 2024 when Kim met with a woman at the Gardner SSA field office who was seeking Social Security benefits following job loss. After redirecting her case to another office closer to her residence outside Massachusetts, Kim accessed her personal information through SSA systems and contacted her using his personal phone number.
Kim told the beneficiary he understood she was facing hardship and suggested they could reach an arrangement that would benefit both parties. During an investigation that followed, it was determined through text messages and monitored calls that Kim offered money for sex and tried negotiating terms.
Over several months, Kim continued communication via text with undercover law enforcement posing as the beneficiary. He requested nude photographs—which were declined—and eventually proposed meeting at a hotel parking lot in Fitchburg, Massachusetts for sex in exchange for $100. Law enforcement confronted him when he arrived at the agreed location in October 2024.
U.S. Attorney Foley and Acting SSA Inspector General Anderson announced the sentence together with acknowledgment of support from Homeland Security Investigations as well as local police departments from Fitchburg and Gardner. The prosecution team included Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg from the Major Crimes Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan D. O’Shea from Worcester Branch Office.
