The custody of the six children removed from a Middletown home after accusations their parents abused one of them is set for trial next month.

But first visiting Judge Thomas Lipps will hear the final motions in a pretrial set for 3 p.m. Tuesday. The custody case was brought on by Butler County Children Services.

“The sooner that we get to a resolution through the courts, the sooner we can begin working with the family on a case plan to bring some type of permanency to these kids’ lives,” said said Jerome Kearns, director of both Children Services and Butler County Job and Family Services.

Butler County assistant prosecutor Jim Monk said one of two things could happen: they could agree to something or go to trial. But he wouldn’t elaborate on what that something could be since it was a Children Services case. The trial is set for 9 a.m. Dec. 10 and 11 in juvenile court.

This hearing follows the Nov. 16 guilty verdict handed to Shawn, 40, and Joanna Blackston, 37, by visiting Judge Matthew Crehan. The judge said the Blackstons treated their 12-year-old daughter and stepdaughter differently, including belittling her, ostracizing her, and not providing her with enough to eat.

The case was prompted by an anonymous complaint that led to a July 3 visit to and investigation of the couple’s Philadelphia Avenue home by Children Services. The Middletown police were called after the 12-year-old girl was allegedly found locked in the basement. The Blackstons were arrested on July 7.

The allegation of the girl being locked in the basement was unfounded and dismissed by Crehan.

At one time, there were eight children living with Shawn and Joanna Blackston. The eldest, a girl who is now 18, no longer lives with them. Neither does a 15-year-old girl, who was removed earlier this year from the home due to similar issues as the 12-year-old. Attorney Randy Turner was assigned to be her guardian ad litem.

Attorney Amy Ashcraft is the guardian ad litem for the six children that were removed from the home. She was not available for comment Monday as she was making home visits.

Chalessa Blackston — the mother of four of the children, which includes a 17-year-old and 12-year-old and the two no longer living with the Blackstons — was unaware and is “appalled” of the treatment her children received by Shawn and Joanna Blackston, said her attorney, Rebecca Cepluch.

“She is working diligently to reunify these children so that their father and stepmother have no contact with them in any manner,” Cepluch said of her client who lives in Florida.

Joanna Blackston is represented by Ched Peck, the same attorney who represented her in the criminal trial. Shawn Blackston is being represented by Robert Qucsai. Neither attorney could be reached for comment.

The Blackstons, who remain free on bond, will have a pre-sentencing hearing before Crehand at 9:30 a.m. Dec. 18. The couple faces up to six months in jail on the misdemeanor charge.