Grand Rapids polygamist suspect claims 'Love got in the way' as reason for two marriages

 

Friday, March 18, 2011, 7:58 PM     Updated: Friday, March 18, 2011, 8:49 PM

GRAND RAPIDS -- A Grand Rapids man who took a bride while still married to another woman in Rhode Island - and is now charged with polygamy - today said he "made a mistake."

Richard Barton Jr., 34, spoke briefly outside a Walker home where he is staying with friends. He is free from jail on a personal recognizance bond after being arrested Wednesday.

"I let love get in the way," Barton said before declining further comment.

His first wife, Adina Quarto, figures it was more about unabated negligence than anything else.

"He told me he just wanted to ignore the situation and pretend I didn't exist," she said Thursday.

In fact, state police said Barton told his new wife, a woman he married in July, that he was divorced.

Barton and Quarto had been estranged for more than six years after he was arrested in Rhode Island for being a parole absconder and returned to Michigan to serve more prison time. They were married in 2004 after they met online and have a 6-year-old son together.

Barton was paroled in October 2009.

She got back in touch with him about a year ago on Facebook, mostly to tell him that their son had autism. It was at that point she learned he was engaged. They talked about getting a divorce, but no action was ever taken.

In the weeks that followed, she discovered that Barton had "defriended" her on Facebook. Her suspicions raised, she managed to still access part of his Facebook page because he had not restricted all access.

She found photos taken at Kruse Park in Muskegon, showing what appeared to be a wedding on the beach in July.

"I put two and two together. They were definitely his wedding photos," she said. "I was shocked. I didn't think he would be so stupid as to get married without first getting a divorce."

She then managed to get back in touch with Barton and he promised to divorce her, but he never did.

"He told me I would receive papers in the mail and he just didn't do it," said Quarto, who gave Barton several months after the marriage to act and eventually confronted him. She claimed he told her he planned to ignore her.

She then called police in Michigan.

"I didn't think he deserved to get away with it," Quarto said. "I'm not a bitter person and I'm not trying to destroy the guy. If he wants to start a new life, more power to him, but he got married when he shouldn't have gotten married."

Quarto and Barton's new wife have since spoken and are on good terms.

"I feel very sorry for her. She is a wonderful person. This is the here and now for her. He is my past, so it's not tearing my heart apart. You can just hear that she is heartbroken," she said.

Barton is charged in Muskegon County District Court with polygamy, a four-year felony. He has previous convictions for home invasion in 2000 and uttering and publishing in 2001.

Barton has claimed that he thought he signed divorce papers in 2007 while still in prison, but Quarto said that was not true.