WARWICK, R.I. — A former Tampa school administrator has been convicted in his third trial over an unwanted foot rub.
10 Investigates has been digging into the accusations against Olayinka Alege since 2021. We found documentation of at least eight boys and young men who have reported unwanted foot touching since 2009.
This conviction happened in Rhode Island, but Olayinka Alege has a lengthy work history in Hillsborough County Public Schools.
In 2009, five King High School students reported their assistant principal touched their bare feet when no one else was around. All shared a similar story: Their assistant principal would pop their toes as punishment for bad grades.
Hillsborough County Public Schools told Alege to cut it out and continued to promote him up the educational ladder.
None of those accusations led to criminal charges.
In 2021, more accusations of unwanted foot touching surfaced in a different state.
Alege was charged with simple assault or battery after a teen reported he asked about his shoes, grabbed his foot, took off his shoe and sock without asking, then rubbed his foot for 30-45 seconds at a gym in Warwick, Rhode Island.
Two more young men came forward saying he did something similar to them at the same gym, but they didn’t want to press charges.
At the time, Alege was working as a network superintendent at Providence Public Schools.
He resigned after his arrest.
Alege was convicted during his first trial in 2022 and appealed. His second trial had a hung jury.
He has now been found guilty in his third trial over this charge. Sentencing is scheduled for next month.