Twin River VP charged with possession of child pornography

LINCOLN, R.I. (WPRI) - The vice president of finance for Twin River casino has been arrested and charged with possession of child pornography.

Suneet Talpade, 51, of Wallingford, Conn., was arrested by the Rhode Island State Police Computer Crimes Unit on Monday, according to a state police press release. Talpade was released on $10,000 personal recognizance and was ordered to have no contact with children and restricted Internet use.

The images were discovered on his work computer at Twin River, according to Lt. Brian Casilli, who is acting commander of the state police detective unit.

“On Monday afternoon the sp comp crimes unit was contacted by the director of security at twin river and asked us to respond to and assist in an investigation,” Casilli said. “[The tip] originated from the IT department at Twin River.”

The state police are still determining how many images were discovered but “there was enough to charge him.”

“The computer crimes unit will do a forensic analysis of that computer and the digital media in an attempt to identity all of those photographs and their origins,” Casilli said.

According to an online profile, Talpade has been the vice president of finance at the Lincoln casino since 2005. Court documents from the casino’s 2009 bankruptcy case reveal Talpade made $130,000 in 2008 and received a $65,000 bonus.

Talpade was arraigned by a justice of the peace at the Lincoln barracks on Monday and will face a judge at a court hearing in February.

Patti Doyle, a spokesperson for Twin River, said Talpade has been suspended without pay. She declined to make any further comment and referred all questions to the state police.

The charge comes with the possibility of five years in prison and $5,000 fine.

Tim White ( twhite@wpri.com ) is the Target 12 investigative reporter for WPRI 12 and Fox Providence. Follow him on Twitter: @white_tim