A Colonie man was sentenced on Monday to 40 years in prison for sex trafficking minors – a crime for which the judge said it took a “special kind of evil” to commit. 

Christopher Thomas, 40, recruited minors as young as 16 to work to engage in sex for his financial benefit, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. His crimes were committed from 2018 to 2020 in New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Massachusetts.

Thomas was convicted in March after a five-day jury trial on 16 counts including sexual exploitation of a child, distribution of child pornography and tampering with a witness, prosecutors said.

U.S. District Judge Mae D’Agostino said Thomas preyed on the most vulnerable people in society.

“You consider these people useless, throwaways. In your mind they are of no value. But they were someone’s child, sister, granddaughter and they had as much a right to live a life free of this type of abuse as anyone else,” she said in a statement.

Thomas will have to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

In addition to the FBI and New York State Police the Colonie Police Department, Albany County Sheriff’s Office and Albany Police Department assisted in investigating the case.