Tips from Boston and Seekonk police led to the capture of a convicted pimp outside a Rhode Island strip club and the rescue of two missing 15-year-old girls, at least one from Massachusetts — an arrest that had the Hub’s top cop yesterday breathing a sigh of relief that a sex offender who for decades “left a wake of victims in his path” is now behind bars.

“He is a guy who has spent the better part of 30 years preying on women in Eastern Massachusetts,” Boston police Commissioner Edward F. Davis said.

Troy Footman, 51, whose last known address is in Dorchester, was arrested by Providence police Monday and charged with sex trafficking a minor, Providence police Maj. David Lapatin said. Boston cops say he is expected to face additional charges.

A missing 15-year-old Boston girl working at the strip club and another 15-year-old girl were rescued by Boston, Providence and federal Homeland Security cops, police said. Footman was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 1999 for operating a prostitution ring with girls as young as 14.

“This man has left a wake of victims in his path,” Davis said. “He has not been rehabilitated. He needs to be separated from society.”

Lapatin said the arrest was a collaborative effort between his department, Boston police and federal law enforcement.

“We received a tip from Boston police along with Homeland Security,” Lapatin said. “As soon as we got the tip, we moved on it.”

Undercover detectives spotted Footman at Cheaters strip club talking with the missing teen, who Lapatin said was working at the club. Officers swarmed Footman when he got into a car and arrested him, Lapatin said.

“During the investigation another 15-year-old girl that had been missing was discovered,” Boston Police spokeswoman Katherine Shea said late last night. A police release singled out Seekonk Sgt. David Enos and BPD Detective David Edwards with coming up with information that made the rescues possible.

A man working at Cheaters last night who answered the club’s phone said he didn’t know about the teen working at the club and declined to find a club representative to comment further.

Footman is listed as a registered Level 3 sex offender in Massachusetts with convictions dating to 1986 for aggravated rape, enticing a person for prostitution, and living off or sharing earnings from a juvenile prostitute.

In 1999, Footman was convicted on federal charges of recruiting young girls to sell themselves up and down the East Coast, putting them to work turning tricks for truckers. He was released from prison in June 2011.

Davis, who was the Lowell police chief when Footman lived there and was convicted in 1999, said during his days as a detective, he remembers Footman as a notorious predator.

Davis praised BPD’s human-trafficking task force for contributing to Footman’s arrest. He said human trafficking is a “serious problem” in Boston that has moved onto the Internet.

“It’s gone underground.”