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A 34-year-old man was arrested that same day.

Police searched the home and seized several electronic devices. What officers found revealed the need for a much wider investigation.

Police discovered the girl had been sexually assaulted by more than one person, and was being made available to be sexually assaulted by others through Craigslist, said Dunbar.

Project Links was launched.

“Due to the seizure and examination of these electronic devices, more information became available to us confirming that other persons were involved in sexually assaulting this little girl and exchanging child pornography amongst each other,” he said.

Among those arrested was the girl’s mother, a 39-year-old Hamilton woman. She was charged Sept. 21 with failing to provide the necessities of life to a child.

The mom’s boyfriend, a 34-year-old Hamilton man, faces 40 charges, including nine counts of sexual assault, making and possessing child pornography, assault and voyeurism. Most of the accused were not publicly identified to protect the identity of the victims and in accordance with a court-ordered publication ban.

The voyeurism charge involves the seven-year-old girl’s older sister, who is under the age of 16 but police would not specify her age in an effort to protect the victims’ identities.

“Our investigation involved Craigslist being utilized by one of the perpetrators,” said Dunbar. “They were posting information that was communicating to get involved in relationships or communicate for the purpose of exploiting children.”