Tad Cummins Trial: Accused Kidnapper to Face the Court in Late July
Former high school teacher Tad Cummins will face the kidnapping case filed against him later this month.
Cummins is accused of kidnapping his 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas and taking her across the U.S. for over a month after they went missing on March 13, 2017. The case earned the country's interest after the Tennessee authorities issued an Amber Alert for the teen, who was reportedly having a romantic relationship with the 51-year-old man.
The two were located in a secluded area in Siskiyou County, California after a tipster reported their existence in a remote log cabin in the area.
The former teacher was arrested and sent back to Tennessee to face the courts. If convicted, he will face a minimum of 10 years in prison.
While Cummins' camp may suggest that the teenager willingly joined him during the trip, the Thomas family lawyer Jason Whatley said that that claim is highly impossible.
"This is classic grooming and manipulation," the lawyer said in a statement to PEOPLE. "And I predict this case will be studied years in the future about how authority figures like Tad Cummins can mess up young children who believe their lies and are manipulated into doing things they would never do."
Siskiyou County Sheriff Jon Lopey, who arrested Cummins and rescued Thomas in California, also told the publication in a separate interview that it is hard to believe that the teenager will willingly go with Cummins across the country.
"I don't think a 15-year-old is in a position to consent with a 50-year-old," he stated. "I think she's a victim, and no matter what her thought process was, she's a victim and he's a sexual predator." He also said that Thomas had several chances to escape Cummins, but he managed to stop her every time.
Cummins' trial is scheduled on Tuesday, July 25.
