Troy Daniel Pipkin Sr., 58, pleaded guilty to incest and seven counts of failing to register as a sex offender in Buncombe County Superior Court on March 16, according to multiple reports. Visiting Superior Court Judge Louis Trosch sentenced Pipkin to two consecutive prison terms of 21 to 38 months each and ordered that he register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. The incest offense occurred around November 1, 2023, and resulted in the victim becoming pregnant. An investigation began in May 2024 when a Buncombe County Sheriff's Office detective obtained search warrants for two mobile phones owned by Pipkin and his wife, Margie Vance, whom he married in November 2022. Adult Protective Services launched an investigation after the Department of Social Services filed a report on April 9, 2024. The victim told her obstetrician that she was pregnant and was a surrogate for a family member, and detectives later met with a case worker at Pipkin's home, where it was revealed that Pipkin had sex with a close family member to impregnate her. The victim gave birth in 2024, though the specific relationship, such as whether she is a daughter or sister, has not been disclosed.
Margie Vance agreed to the arrangement and was later charged with aiding and abetting second-degree forcible rape, according to warrants. A witness stated that Pipkin coerced the victim into sexual activity, while Vance warned that Pipkin would inflict harm if she refused to cooperate. Vance admitted to detectives that she participated in a threesome with Pipkin and the family member. She was arrested on April 16, 2024, and charged with aiding and abetting, then indicted by Buncombe County Superior Court in February 2025. By April 2025, Vance pleaded guilty to second-degree kidnapping and sexual battery and was given credit for the year she spent in the Buncombe County Detention Facility. Pipkin was registered as a sex offender and remained on probation from Columbia County, Florida, following convictions on several counts of lewd acts involving a child. He faced a probation violation in Florida following his Buncombe arrest, but the outcome of that violation has not been confirmed.
In a separate case in Indiana, Bradley D. Armstrong, 66, was arrested just hours before his wedding. Armstrong was convicted of child molestation in 2002, and police allege that he failed to disclose his status as a sexually violent predator on his marriage license application. Providing false information on a marriage application is a level 6 felony in Indiana. A court filed a motion to prevent Armstrong from marrying the 22-year-old bride, who has multiple disabilities. Heather Stevens, a county clerk, took action when she learned the bride, who is declared legally incompetent, was pregnant. The unnamed bride has complex medical issues, including autism, fetal alcohol syndrome, ADHD, functional movement disorder, delayed speech, and depression. In 2021, a court ruled the woman to be incompetent, and her parents were appointed her legal guardians. Stevens' office will not issue a marriage license to Armstrong and the 22-year-old, and state law prohibits a clerk from issuing a marriage license to any person legally judged as incompetent.
Armstrong was released the day after the scheduled March 17 wedding on a $750 cash bond. The current status of Armstrong's legal case and whether the marriage has been permanently prevented remain unclear. In the Pipkin case, it is also unknown how the victim is currently doing and what support she is receiving.