Prior to sentencing, Cummins broke down crying as he apologized for the harm he caused the victim, now 17, and his own family, some of whom were in the courtroom, including his two daughters.ĭressed in a gray-and-black-striped prison uniform, Cummins repeatedly said he had no idea why he did what he did, calling it a “misguided attempt to help that went sideways in a way I don’t know I’ll ever understand.” Cummins had asked for the minimum sentence of 10 years. District Judge Aleta Trauger acknowledged that Cummins committed a “pretty despicable crime” but said there were also mitigating factors, including that he had no criminal record, that he was unlikely to reoffend, and that he promptly admitted to his crime and pleaded guilty. In arguing for a stiff sentence, Meyers focused on the preparation that Cummins put into his flight with the girl, including taking his wife’s car, which he thought would be less conspicuous than his own filling a prescription for an erectile dysfunction drug and taking out a loan so that he could pay for everything in cash. The statement also said the girl was convinced Cummins would have eventually discarded her had he not been captured near a remote California cabin in April 2017 after a national manhunt. The victim’s statement said Cummins saw “a broken girl who was lonely, scared and traumatized.” She needed protection, the statement said, but Cummins only wanted sex. “What you did to me was unspeakable,” Meyers read. Attorney Sara Beth Meyers read the girl’s statement. After a discussion with the prosecutor and the judge, Assistant U.S. The victim was in the federal courtroom in Nashville, but when the time came for her to speak, she did not come forward. They were the subject of a nationwide Amber Alert in 2017. Prosecutors had asked for a 30-year sentence after Cummins pleaded guilty to transporting a minor across state lines for sex and obstructing justice. Cummins was a teacher at Culleoka Unit School in Maury County when he kidnapped his 15-year-old student, Elizabeth Thomas. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.Ī Tennessee teacher who was on the run for weeks with a 15-year-old student was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 years in prison.Ī statement from the victim called 52-year-old Tad Cummins “disgusting” and said the effects of his actions on her were “devastating and permanent.” Tad Cummins is seen in a booking photo released by the Siskiyou County Sheriff’s Office. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
0 kommentar(er)
