Thomas Joseph Barnes

Douglas County prosecutors charged a man with bigamy on Monday, after accusations that he married a Kansas University student in Lawrence while also being wed to a woman in Georgia for the last 10 years.

Lawrence police said they arrested Thomas Barnes, 32, on July 27, after his Georgia wife became suspicious that he also got married to a 32-year-old doctoral student at KU. The two were wed July 17 during a ceremony in South Park, said Kim Murphree, police spokeswoman.

“The marriage certificate was valid and there was no divorce from his first wife … so he was arrested for bigamy,” Murphree said.

Barnes, of Lawrenceville, Ga., made his first appearance in court on Monday. He was released from Douglas County Jail on $1,000 bond.

Police said he was married to the KU student six days after sending his wife a text message saying he was leaving the state and her. Murphree said the man’s Georgia wife contacted officers after obtaining information from her husband’s e-mail account about his second marriage.

Barnes is scheduled to return to court Aug. 31.

Bigamy is a felony in Kansas.