[bbfan1991]

An American man has been charged with bigamy after Facebook suggested his first wife become friends with his second, exposing his crime.

Alan L O'Neill, a Pierce County corrections officer, married a woman in 2001, but left her in 2009. The couple never divorced.

O'Neill, previously known as Alan Fulk, changed his name in December 2011 and remarried later that month, The News Tribune reports.

His first wife discovered he had remarried after Facebook detected both women's connection to O'Neill and suggested they become friends. She clicked on wife number two's profile, discovered wedding photographs and called his mother.

Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said: "An hour later the defendant arrived at [wiife number one's] apartment, and she asked him several times if they were divorced. The defendant said, 'No, we are still married'."

He then allegedly asked her to keep quiet, but she alerted the authorities.

O'Neill, 41, has been placed on administrative leave after prosecutors charged him on Thursday, March 8. He must attend court on March 22 to answer the felony charge.

"It's not the crime of the century, but it is a crime," Lindquist said.

Serves him right.