Tattle | Child-porn charges for 'Law & Order' actor

AH, IRONY.

A New Jersey actor who twice played a lieutenant on "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" has been charged with possession of child pornography, authorities said yesterday.

Good thing Detective Stabler didn't find him first.

Albert Insinnia, 57, of Bloomfield, turned himself into the Passaic County Sheriff's Department Monday and was released on bail yesterday morning, said sheriff's spokesman Bill Maer.

Insinnia was charged with two counts of possession of kiddie porn after authorities allegedly discovered 180 images on the hard drive of his laptop computer.

Reached at his home yesterday afternoon, Insinnia wisely had no comment. His lawyer, Joseph Portelli, said he planned to plead not guilty at his arraignment.

"I understand what he's been charged with, but I do have to say that based on my conversations with him and the authorities involved, I sincerely believe he's not guilty," said Portelli.

According to Portelli, the hard drive on Insinnia's computer has been transferred various times in the last few years and a variety of people have had access to it.

"Any images that may have been on that computer are not his," Portelli said, adding that there are no allegations that his client purchased or sold any of the images.

The investigation began after Insinnia took his computer to a Best Buy electronics store in West Paterson for repairs. A technician found the images, police said, and alerted a police detective working security at the store.

Tattbits

* Tony Bennett and Stevie Won-

der are planning an album together.

Bennett tells Billboard.com that he and Wonder are "just now sketching out" plans for the album, with no timetable yet for the recording. "I know he wants to do a jazz album," Bennett says. "I'm interested in that myself."

The duo won a Grammy this year for a collaboration on "For Once In My Life" on Bennett's "Duets" album.

* The Hollywood Reporter says Oscar

winner Anjelica Huston will appear opposite Patricia Arquette in six episodes of the NBC drama "Medium."

* Billboard.biz reports that Simon Cowell is now being accused of picking on a 6-year-old.

Cowell and his label Sony BMG have reportedly reneged on a promise to give "Britain's Got Talent" child guest Connie Talbot a record deal after she wowed judges, including Simon, with her rendition of "Somewhere over the Rainbow."

Later, the label decided she was too young.

"There was some deliberation over the possibility of recording with Connie," Sony BMG says in a statement. "However the decision not to proceed was made with the best intentions for Connie, taking into consideration her age and that it would not be right to do so at this time."

* As if she's not suffering enough

cleaning toilets in Utah and facing a DUI/drug possession jail sentence, Lindsay Lohan was sued yesterday for assault and negligence by Tracie Rice, who was a passenger in the car that Lindsay is accused of chasing while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

"What Miss Lohan did that night was extremely dangerous and reprehensible. Someone could easily have been killed or seriously hurt because of her irresponsible decisions that evening," Rice said.

The suit also alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks unspecified damages and also payment of medical and other expenses related to emotional distress.

Team Lindsay had no comment.

* Also being sued is country singer John Michael Montgomery.

In what could be a country music song ("I Was Drunk in Kentucky and a Policeman Lost His Job"), Urban County (Ky.) fired policeman Joshua Cromer in February in part for postings made on MySpace.com and for his actions in connection with Montgomery's arrest in February 2006.

Before Cromer's dismissal, Montgomery was interviewed by the police department's internal-affairs unit.

Cromer claims Montgomery falsely accused him of stealing his cowboy hat during the arrest. His lawsuit also contends that Montgomery falsely told police Cromer had targeted him because he is a celebrity and that Cromer acted inappropriately during the arrest.

Last August, Montgomery acknowledged in a plea that there was enough evidence for a conviction. He was ordered to pay fines and take an alcohol-education course.

Cromer wants his job back.

* An L.A. court commission-

er said yesterday he would consider a motion by a magazine and a TV station to unseal documents in the Britney Spears-Kevin Federline divorce case.

Must be because we need to know even more about them.

"They're appropriate participants in here," Superior Court Commissioner Scott M. Gordon said of the request by KNBC-TV and People magazine.

Spears and Federline weren't at the hearing.

(It was held during the day so Britney was sleeping, y'all.)

Gordon scheduled another hearing for Sept. 14 to give their attorneys time to make their case for keeping the documents under seal.

After the hearing, K-Fed attorney Mark Vincent Kaplan said the documents contain information about the schedules of the couple's children and other details that could put them in jeopardy.

(We thought a problem was that the children had no schedules.)

"It would be best for the children that they not be exposed," Kaplan said.

As for Britney's being exposed, that ship has sailed. *

Daily News wire services contributed to this report.

Send e-mail to gensleh@phillynews.com