If several debts listed on a credit report are sold to a new collection agency and then paid in full can the debts from the old agency be disputed and removed from a credit report?

Yes and no. What the original credit agency should be reporting is that the debt was transferred to a new collector. Once you have proof that the debt was paid in full, you should be able to provide all creditors that are reporting negative info regarding that debt that this is the case and they should mark your records accordingly with a zero balance. It is really entirely up to them as to whether or not they totally remove the entry from your credit report.