Facebook: Uncovering Secrets And Bigamists!

So many people have Facebook and bond over the internet that the degrees of separation are reportedly getting smaller. But what happens when Facebook suggests “Someone you may know” and that someone happens to also be married to YOUR husband?! That is what happened to a US bigamist  who has been caught out by one of his wives all thanks to the marvel that is Facebook!

Someone You May Know…

One wife clicked on the image of this suggested woman to see her own husband next to a bride cutting a wedding cake. It’s probably fair to say that wife number 1 and the man had in fact been separated since 2009 but neither one had filed for divorce and were technically still married. The story gets even stranger. The man had even changed his name from Alan L O’Neill to Alan Fulk, maybe in an attempt to not get caught out by either old wife or the authorities.

Having seen the photo and profiles, wife number 1 rang the man’s mother to ask for an explanation. As you can imagine, the man panicked, showed up at wife 1′s house begging her not to tell and that he would “fix it”. Rightly so, she did the right thing and rang up the appropriate authorities and reported him.

Lawyers Social Media Warning

Mark Lindquist, Pierce County Prosecutor, has warned of the dangers social media and Facebook can present for people keeping such secrets:

Facebook is now a place where people discover things about each other they end up reporting to law enforcement” ~ Courtesy of BBC News Online

Alan L O’Neill/Fulk is a perfect example of this danger. He is now facing up to a year in prison if he is convicted of bigamy.

Key Take Away

Facebook, and social media in general really, can be a very dangerous place to live a double life. Secrets and news always gets out, especially if it’s plastered all over Facebook in photos, About Me’s and updates and walls. Good news for people who need to know about these secrets but very bad news for people getting found out. Then again, if you are going to marry more than one woman, you deserve every consequence you get when you get found out. Be careful with what you post on your networks if you do have secrets, you never know who will be seeing it.

~Articles: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-17323095

~Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/bogomo