“Friends You May Know” Facebook Feature Leads to Man's Bigamy Charge

Corrections officer reportedly caught by Facebook's "People You May Know Feature"

A Washington state corrections officer reportedly faces bigamy charges after Facebook's "Friends You May Know" feature suggested his two wives become friends.

Alan L. O'Neill was originally married in 2001, but had moved out by 2009, The Associated Press reported, citing charging documents. The couple never filed for divorce and by December 2011, O'Neill changed his name and got remarried.

While on Facebook, wife one saw a friend "suggestion" that she connect with O'Neill's new wife. She also found a picture of her estranged husband with his second bride, cutting their wedding cake, according to the AP.

Within an hour, the first wife was on the phone with her mother-in-law. O'Neill, 41, later stopped by wife one's apartment and told her he'd fix the problem, but she alerted the authorities, according to charging documents.

"Facebook is now some place where people discover things about each other that end up reporting that to law enforcement," Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist told the AP.

O'Neill, formerly Alan Fulk, has been a Pierce County corrections officer for five years and if convicted, could face a year in jail. He's due in court later this month.

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