A human trafficking sting carried out by agencies in 12 states included an arrest last week in Bowling Green.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear announced the results of Operation United Front during a news conference Wednesday.

Led by the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and Missouri Highway Patrol, the crackdown on human trafficking led to 102 arrests across the country and the rescue of 59 reported human trafficking victims, including two juveniles, both of whom were found in Kentucky.

Of the 12 states to participate in Operation United Front, Kentucky made the most arrests, with 46, and the 21 victims found in Kentucky represent the highest number among participating states.

“Labor and sex trafficking is one of the worst evils imaginable, it subjects people to unspeakable harms, takes their dignity and heaps a level of trouble on them that most individuals can’t even fathom,” Beshear said at a Frankfort news conference.

Officials said the multi-state operation appeared to be the first of its kind.

Kentucky State Police Commander Col. Phillip Burnett Jr. said KSP partnered with nearly 50 other agencies during the operation, with undercover officers typically arranging to meet with potential victims to remove them from an exploitative environment.

“Kentucky State Police wants to stress that this operation was a success because of the dedication of law enforcement officers working together in a collaborative way,” Burnett said. “Every agency should be proud of the role they played in this operation.”

Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron lauded the cooperation of the many agencies involved, mentioning that one of the people arrested in the operation was a Missouri police officer on a charge of online enticement of a minor.

“Because of the arrests made during this operation there are fewer traffickers preying on families in our communities,” Cameron said.

As part of the investigation, law enforcement in Kentucky conducted four trafficking operations simultaneously in Bowling Green, Elizabethtown, northern Kentucky and McCracken County.

Detective Rugina Lunce, Kentucky State Police Human Trafficking Task Force coordinator, said the Bowling Green detail assisted in the recovery of five victims, made one arrest and executed a warrant on an illicit massage parlor.

At the news conference, Lunce credited the Barren River Child Advocacy Center and other agencies that provide services to trafficking victims for their efforts to aid the operation.

Those services entailed things such as finding housing and medical aid for victims and connecting juvenile victims with social workers.

“Barren River … stood at the ready to assist, leaving their doors open and interviewers on call for possible emergency interviews,” Lunce said. “Kentucky State Police victim advocates … worked tirelessly into the night partnering with nongovernmental organizations to assist law enforcement. It’s important to make arrests and eliminate human trafficking, for many (victims) it’s the empowerment we give people to leave terrible conditions for a new start.”

Jennifer Bryant, executive director for the Barren River Child Advocacy Center, said that victims removed from exploitative environments have immediate needs that victim advocacy agencies strive to meet.

For this operation, the center was asked to stay open for additional hours to provide support.

“We provide critical services such as forensic interviews, medical examinations, we can connect victims to trauma-informed mental health therapy,” Bryant said. “We work very closely with law enforcement and social services around these issues all the time and we are glad to offer support for that initiative.”

Doctors who volunteer with the center and who have experience tending to victims of child sexual abuse are on call, Bryant said.

The investigation in Bowling Green led to the arrest Aug. 26 of Christopher Terry, 45, of West Point, Miss.

Terry appeared Tuesday in Warren District Court for a preliminary hearing in his case, which was sent to a grand jury.

Lunce testified at the preliminary hearing, describing how an undercover officer found one of the reported victims in Bowling Green through an ad on a website promoting illegal sex work.

The agent met with the woman at a Bowling Green motel, where the agent explained the investigation.

Soon, a surveillance team got involved and the woman provided details to law enforcement about her situation, naming Terry as her trafficker and providing a location for him, Lunce testified.

“She went on to describe that (Terry) was armed and he had been physically abusive in the past to her,” Lunce said in court Tuesday.

When police encountered the woman that night, she said she had met with four clients that day who paid about $500 altogether, most of which went to Terry, the detective testified.

The alleged victim reportedly told police that Terry had ordered her to place ads online for sexual liaisons and put a gun to her head and strangled her several days earlier when she attempted to take down an ad, Lunce said.

Police located a vehicle associated with Terry at a convenience store on Parker Avenue and arrested him on Hennessy Way, seizing a loaded handgun, three cellphones and about $3,000 in cash from him, court records show.

– Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com.