A former employee of the Social Security Administration (SSA) has been sentenced to prison for attempting to coerce a beneficiary into prostitution. Dae Sung Kim, 36, of Auburn, Massachusetts, received a six-month prison sentence and five years of supervised release from U.S. District Court Judge Margaret R. Guzman. Kim pleaded guilty in February 2025 to one count of attempting to induce a person to travel across state lines for prostitution.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley commented on the case: “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,” said United States Attorney Leah B. Foley. “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 for the SSA, also addressed the matter: “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,” said Michelle Anderson, Acting Inspector General, Social Security Administration.
The incident began in March 2024 when Kim met with a woman at the Gardner SSA field office who was seeking benefits after losing her job. After redirecting her application process and accessing her personal information through SSA systems, Kim contacted her using his personal cell phone and suggested they could “work something out that would benefit them both.” Subsequent investigations revealed that Kim offered money in exchange for sex and continued his solicitation over several months through text messages with undercover law enforcement officers posing as the beneficiary.
Kim eventually proposed meeting at a hotel parking lot in Fitchburg, Massachusetts for sex in exchange for $100. When he arrived at the location in October 2024 expecting to meet the beneficiary—who was actually an undercover officer—he was confronted by law enforcement.
The investigation involved cooperation between Homeland Security Investigations and local police departments from Fitchburg and Gardner. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney James J. Nagelberg from the Major Crimes Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan D. O’Shea from the Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.
