It was an overcast Saturday in the summer of 1976 and the Red Sox and Yankees were halfway through a doubleheader. Sam Albano, a New York television producer, was strolling down Lansdowne Street behind Fenway Park when he ran into a friend from home, Bob Oliva, and Oliva’s guest that day, a teenager named Jimmy Carlino.

It crossed his mind that it was odd to find Oliva with a 14-year-old, but Albano quickly dismissed the thought. And over the next 30 years, the two men became even closer friends, sharing a passion for sports as Oliva built a reputation as a standout coach for the powerhouse basketball team at Christ the King Regional High School in Queens.

Now, however, Albano is cooperating with Boston prosecutors presenting evidence to a Suffolk grand jury that Oliva repeatedly molested his teenage companion all those years ago, while staying at the Sheraton Boston Hotel. And in the aftermath of those allegations, Oliva has resigned from the job he held at Christ the King for 27 years, roiling the New York City high school sports community.

“This is a guy I looked up to, trusted, and had a lot of faith in, and even believed in when the initial allegations surfaced,’’ Albano said in a Globe interview. “However, because of his personal conduct there’s no way I can support Bob anymore.’’

Michael Doolin, the Boston criminal attorney defending Oliva, said that the longtime coach “has absolutely not done anything criminal or illegal in this case at all.’’ Jake Wark, a spokesman for Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley, declined to confirm, deny, or discuss any grand jury investigation, citing office policy.