Photo: ABC News
TheTennessee teenagerwhose50-year-old teacher kidnapped and sexually assaulted herwhile taking her across the country in 2017 recounted her shock and confusion when he first kissed her inside his classroom.
Elizabeth Thomas, in an interview with ABC’s20/20, said she was alone inTad Cummins’ classroomand sitting on a table when Cummins told the then-15-year-old, “You’d look pretty nice naked.’ ”
During the encounter at Culleoka Unit School, Elizabeth, now 17,said Cummins, her health sciences teacher, kissed her: “He grabbed my face.”
At that point, she said, “I realized this was getting too far.”
After Cummins kissed her, she said, “I was scared. I don’t wanna tell my parent that a grown man kissed me. And I don’t wanna tell my friends that a grown man kissed me.”
“I don’t like the spotlight being on me,” she added.
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Cummins kidnapped the high school freshman in March 2017, setting off anationwide manhunt and AMBER Alertthat lasted 38 days that ended when he and Elizabeth were foundliving in a four-walled shelterin Northern California.
Prior to her abduction, authorities and Elizabeth’s parents said he “groomed” her for months. He was fired from his teaching job after he was named the suspect in her disappearance.
In April of this year,Cummins pleaded guiltyto federal charges of transporting a minor across state lines for the purpose of engaging in criminal sexual conduct and obstruction of justice.
TBI
TheColumbia Daily Heraldreported that when he pleaded guilty, Cummins said in court, “I cannot be the man I need to be and not tell the truth” before breaking down crying.
“I don’t regret it, nor do I say it was the right thing to do,” she said. “It was an experience I’ll have to live with the rest of my life.”
RELATED VIDEO: Story Behind the Story — the Elizabeth Thomas Abduction
“There’s been so much speculation about me,” she told the paper. “There are people saying, ‘She’s not talking for this reason. She’s not talking for that reason.’ It’s not that. It’s just the publicity is affecting people. Everyone just needs to calm down. I am a human being. I can answer things fairly. But people are asking things that are too personal. People are talking to me like they know me. They didn’t talk to me before. They didn’t try to know me before. They have only liked me since I came back.”
source: people.com
