If convicted, Cummins faces a minimum of 10 years to life in prison. He also faces state charges in Maury County, Tennessee, where he allegedly abducted Thomas. On Friday, a federal court heard the testimony of Tad’s sister, Daphne Quinn, and FBI special agent Utley Noble, who shared new information about the pair’s day-to-day lives while they were. The former teacher faces one count of transporting a minor across state lines with the intent to engage in criminal sexual activity. She was not harmed physically but the mental scars will take years to heal."Ĭummins attended his first court appearance on Tuesday, May 9, and during the hearing, he affirmed that he required a public defender because he could not afford to hire a private attorney. "At the end of the day we are dealing with a very messed-up kid here," the source added. Authorities speak in new interviews with ABC 20/20 about how Cummins tried to elude capture during the 38-day search. "All they can do is stand by her and give her as much help as she needs to come to terms with what really happened." A 15-year-old student was taken by her Tennessee teacher in 2017. "It's a very complex family situation right now," the source explained. However, Thomas's path toward recovery is further complicated by her turbulent family life, with her parents divorcing and her mother facing charges for abusing her and several of her nine siblings.
The teen will be receiving expert care "for as long as it takes" for her to realize that she was actually the victim of a predatory older man. "She thinks she is a fully grown woman who can date who she likes."Īfter they were found, Cummins was arrested without a struggle, and Thomas was flown back to Tennessee, where she was placed in a special treatment center for trauma victims. "Elizabeth says she's in love with Tad and that the pair of them haven't done anything wrong," a source told the Daily Mail. The girls disappearance came more than a month after a student reported seeing Cummins. The teen disappeared from her Tennessee home on March 13, and was later recovered safely on April 20 when the police tracked her and Cummins to a remote cabin 2,500 miles away in northern California.Īccording to a report by the Daily Mail, Thomas told her friends that she had the "time of her life" during her 39-day disappearance with Cummins. Tad Cummins, a former Culleoka Unit School health science teacher, is accused of taking Thomas on March 13.
The 50-year-old married grandfather is currently facing a federal child trafficking charge for grooming and kidnapping his former student.
15-year-old Elizabeth Thomas is currently in rehab and is refusing to be reunited with her family in Columbia, Tennessee, insisting that she is a "fully grown woman" who should be entitled to date his suspected abductor and former teacher Tad Cummins.
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