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Nine people have been arrested following an investigation triggered by the alleged sexual assault of a seven-year-old Hamilton girl. Police say an online ad making her available for abuse, led them to the discovery of a child pornography ring.

The investigation began on May 3rd, after police received information from the Hamilton Catholic Children’s Aid society regarding a possible case of child abuse. That same day, detectives interviewed the young girl. The seven year old told police she was being sexually assaulted by her mother’s boyfriend. That evening, the 34-year old man was arrested. Following a search warrant police laid 40 charges against the mother’s boyfriend, including charges of sexual assault, making child pornography, and possession of child pornography. He was also charged with voyeurism, in connection to the girl’s older sister.

The 39-year-old mother was also later arrested, charged with failure to provide the necessaries of life to a child under 16.

During the following six months, police say with the help of U.S. Homeland security, several other jurisdictions they discovered the seven year old girl has been sexually assaulted by more than one person and that the boyfriend had posted an ad on Craigslist, making her available to be abused by others. That discovery led to the seizure of more than 100 electronic devices and computers and the arrest of seven other people, who also face child abuse related charges. The names of most of the accused are not being released to protect the identites of the victims. Police say the investigation continues and believe there may be more victims.