As Facebook continues to worm its way into every segment of daily life, using cold mathematical algorithms to build relationships between its billion users, the social media site is bound to ruin a few relationships as well. That was the case for one man, Alan O’Neill, whose two wives discovered each other on Facebook based on a “friend recommendation.” O’Neill is now facing charges of bigamy and up to one year in jail.
O’Neill, 41, who lives in Tacoma, Washington, works as a corrections officer for a local prison. According to court documents, O’Neill married a woman in 2001, and left her and moved out in 2009. He then changed his name from Alan Fulk to Alan O’Neill and remarried without divorcing his previous wife.
According to O’Neill/Fulk’s first wife, she was casually browsing Facebook when the profile of a person she recognized appeared in the site’s “People You May Know” feature. It was O’Neill’s second wife, though she did not know that they were married until she clicked on the profile and saw pictures of the second wife, O’Neill, and a wedding cake. The first wife then called O’Neill’s mother.
According to the Huffington Post, O’Neill arrived at his first wife’s home an hour after she phoned his mother. O’Neill asked his first wife not to share the information about his second marriage with anyone, and promised that he would fix the situation, but the first wife quickly contacted the authorities.
O’Neill’s first and second wife were not strangers to each other, having met at least once in 2010, when the first wife was arrested during an altercation with the second wife.
O’Neill was charged with bigamy on Thursday. Sherriff spokesman Ed Troyer said that O’Neill has been placed on administrative leave by Pearce County, and that he was currently free but due in court later this month. Non-violent criminals are not required to remain in prison while awaiting trial. “About the only danger he would pose is marrying a third woman,” said Troyer.
The case of Alan O’Neill should serve as a cautionary tale to anyone with secrets they want kept off of social media.