Richard Leon Barton Jr thought his secret was safe when he ‘defriended’ his first wife on Facebook and married his second without getting divorced.
But now the law has caught up with the 34-year-old Michigan man after pictures of his second trip down the aisle were posted online.
Thanks to Facebook he has been ordered to appear before Muskegon District Court in Michigan accused of polygamy and could be jailed for four years if he is found guilty.
Mr Barton Jr’s first wife, from Rhode Island, first became suspicious about her estranged husband when she could not access his profile on Facebook.
Thinking it was odd she had been ‘defriended’ she began snooping around on pages belonging to his friends and family.
Before long she came across his wedding pictures and discovered he had exchanged vows with someone else, the Grand Rapids Press reports.
The couple had married in 2004 after meeting a year earlier online.
The New England woman said her husband did not come home from work one day in 2004 and it emerged he had been arrested for a previous offence.
She told police the couple had never divorced.
Mr Barton Jr, from Grand Rapids, married his second wife in the Michigan city in July last year.
If he is found guilty his second marriage would become void and may be annulled.
