SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, Ohio —

Another shoe has dropped in the investigation of suspected abuse at Hillcrest Academy.

Hamilton County and Juvenile Court announced Wednesday afternoon they will end their contractual ties to Rite of Passage, which runs the treatment program for at-risk youth at Hillcrest.

The decision comes in the wake of allegations that surfaced within the past few days from a worker there.

An investigation is underway into whether a female staff member sexually assaulted at least one student.

There was an emergency Juvenile Court meeting about it over the weekend.

According to a joint statement this afternoon from Hamilton County Juvenile Court and Hamilton County Job and Family Services, "On Saturday, HCJC held an emergency shelter hearing to remove all 12 of the children the Court placed at Hillcrest. HCJFS is also in the process of relocating its residents. In addition, the County Administrator and the Administrative Judge have given notice that it intends to terminate its contract with Rite of Passage."

The statement mentioned there were 50 current residents at Hillcrest.

A dozen were placed there by Juvenile Court, six by Jobs and Family Services.

The rest of the residents were sent to Hillcrest by other entities from out of state.

Neither Hamilton County leaders nor anyone from Juvenile Court would say anything further about the separation, referring all questions to the Hamilton County Prosecutor.

As for the criminal investigation, the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office said there is nothing new to release at this time.

ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — On Tuesday, Hillcrest Cemetery started to get a bit of a face lift on behalf of the GE Veterans Network.

Over a four-day period -- more than 100 volunteers from GE will clean up the grounds, removing debris, cleaning headstones and planting flags.

Brian DeGennaro, the co-lead of the network, said the goal is to beautify the spot while also honoring men and women who put their lives on the line for our country.

"Cleaning up the tombstone areas and a lot of the tombstones have fallen over -- we're looking at putting them back up making sure that they are aligned,” he said. “Cleaning up some of the trees and brush around the area, just to really make it that kind of place that a veteran who served their nation deserves."

There are about 1,400 U.S. military veterans buried at Hillcrest -- spanning from the Civil War to the Vietnam War -- and about 95% of those buried veterans are African American.

GE Veterans Network, the GE Women’s Network and the GE African American Forum will work together during the four-day cleanup.