ST. PAUL — Ramsey County is removing 21 boys from a privately run juvenile correctional facility in northern Minnesota.

The county said the boys will be transferred from Mesabi Academy in Buhl to the Juvenile Family Services Center in St. Paul by Wednesday.

The boys had been sent to Mesabi Academy by Ramsey County courts after they committed offenses. Ramsey County said last week it wouldn’t send any more children in need of protection to the facility.

Hennepin County removed 20 children from the facility last week. That came after a unit of American Public Media, reported that Mesabi Academy didn’t alert St. Louis County authorities to three allegations of sex abuse last year.

The academy’s parent company, KidsPeace, has said the center provides a safe and caring environment.